


Cowboys Have Feelings Too

by ohlookanotherwriter



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Cw substance use, F/F, Farmer adora, I’m not projecting YOURE projecting, Mutual Pining, Slow Burn, Yeehaw gays, cw alcohol use, foster kid catra
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-02
Updated: 2020-09-10
Packaged: 2021-03-05 23:35:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 18
Words: 58,831
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25663723
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ohlookanotherwriter/pseuds/ohlookanotherwriter
Summary: Catra was used to drifting through life - never forging any connections, never planting any roots. She didn’t expect any of that to be different when life led her to a dreary little corn town. Though the cute farm girl down the road just might change that.
Relationships: Adora/Catra (She-Ra), Angella/Micah (She-Ra), Mermista/Sea Hawk (She-Ra)
Comments: 90
Kudos: 372





	1. Chapter 1

Golden plumes of weeds, illuminated by the beam of a flashlight, swayed gracefully in the breeze as Adora traipsed through the fields to get to the massive red barn in the distance. Dew clung to her as she made her way through the tall grass, leaving a thin layer of moisture at the hem of her jeans. She was only halfway across the field but she could already hear the herd waking up and groaning for food, bringing a small smile to her tired face. By the sounds of it, only a small portion of the herd was up and ready for the day but she was certain the rest of them would be up by the time she reached them. Shoving her free hand into her jacket pocket for warmth from the early morning chill, she hastened her pace and closed the distance between her and the now mooing barn.

Unlatching the heavy wooden doors, she swung them open to greet the herd. “Good morning Moo Moo… Milky… Hamburger…” One by one she walked by the stalls and gave each cow a quick pat on the head until she reached their bin of feed. She began filling a bucket nearly as big as herself with grain. A calf from a stall nearby mewed at her, begging for attention which he promptly received, Adora put her task on hold to give the baby cow a pet. “And good morning to you too, Wellington.”

A motor roared in the distance, Glimmer must’ve already woken to mow the fields. Adora was shocked for a moment at how early she was up, considering she typically waited til later in the morning to start her own chores,valuing sleep over duties. Ignoring that for the time being, she finished up feeding the herd and led them out into a vacant field to laze about for the day, tossing the small amount of excess grain into the grass for them to graze at. It was supposed to be a hot one, hence why she had woken earlier than usual, so they had more time in the fields in case she had to wrangle them back into their stalls early. Now was to find out why Glimmer had chosen this ungodly hour to rise.

It was a long stroll but she finally made her way to where her adopted sister was working. The sun just began to peak over the horizon, giving off just enough light for Adora to witness Glimmer’s vicious scowl. She waved her arms in the air as she grew closer in an attempt to get her attention, but Glimmer kept riding on. Pulling out her flashlight, she flickered the light in Glimmer’s direction, this attempt more successful. She drove the loud green beast over to her and cut the engine a few feet away. As soon as the motor died down, the air was filled with the sound of some loud, screeching racket coming from somewhere not too far away.

“Yeah, isn’t that annoying?” Glimmer began, Adora not realizing she had been making a face that warranted the response. “Miss Weaver’s new girl has been blasting that crap music all night, I couldn’t get any sleep. Bet you’re glad you’re not there right now, I can’t imagine what sort of crackhead brat is listening to that.”

“Wait— Weaver has a new girl?” Adora’s sense of up and down began to waver as soon as the words left her mouth. She found herself staring into the direction the music was coming, unable to rip her gaze away from the house in the distance, she could see a tiny illuminated window with the speck of a silhouette moving about but her vision began to haze over. She wasn’t sure how much time had passed before the sound of Glimmer’s complaints pulled her back to reality.

“—thinks she can just waltz in here overnight and commit a public disturbance! That’s it, I’m going into town and getting coffee, you coming?”

—-

The sun was full and bright in the sky by the time they arrived back at the farm, coffee already nearly entirely downed. Adora had tried to catch a glimpse of the new girl down the road on their way back, but at the speed Glimmer had been going, all she could see was a blur of the house she used to reside in. She was meant to be the last kid to ever be in Miss Weaver’s ward but she supposed her complaints were never taken seriously to begin with, she shouldn’t have been shocked her old abuser would be allowed to care for children again. The foster system was overflowing, not much could be done for it. Even though Glimmer had been frustrated with their new neighbor, Adora’s heart hurt for her, for the pain she didn’t know she was about to endure. Would this new girl even realize it was happening? How long would it take for Miss Weaver’s dark tendrils to sink into her and start chipping away at her psyche?

Or was she being too hard on her old caretaker? Even though the wounds still felt fresh, it had been years since Adora lived under Miss Weaver’s roof. Even through the hard times, there was still some twisted form of maternal love she received from her, maybe she had it in her to change for the better.

The thought made her feel sick. Made her feel guilty. It was always this way when her mind began to sink into the past. Sometimes her mind couldn’t pick apart the false memories from reality, sometimes she couldn’t pick apart Mom Weaver from Tormentor Weaver, the caring mother figure who pushed her to achieve from the monster who locked her in her room over the weekend for bringing home a failing grade. Were they even the same person? Or did she make one of them up?

Adora hadn’t even realized how entangled in her thoughts she had become until the sound of the car door slamming shut and gravel shifting under the weight of another car pulled her out of it. She looked out her window to see Bow’s rusted pickup truck pulling up next to her before he bounded out of it and slammed his own door shut.

“Morning!” He shouted at the girls as Adora hopped out of Glimmer’s car. Adora plastered a smile onto her face and fell into Bow’s open arms with Glimmer. He rubbed their arms as if he was trying to rub his energy into them before releasing them from his embrace. “Have the horses been taken care of yet?”

“Not yet,” Adora answered. “But let me come with you and help, I want to take Swift Wind for a ride.” With that, Glimmer resumed her maintenance as Bow and Adora went for the stables. Angella and Micah would’ve been pleased with them, getting such an early start before they even awoke.

The two walked in silence for a bit, Bow obviously eager to say whatever was toiling around in his mind. He didn’t wait long to let the dam burst.

“So... Glimmer told me about the new girl at Miss Weaver’s. Did you… have any thoughts?” Bow trailed off for a moment, seeming as though he was testing the water before he chose how to phrase his question.

Adora’s brow furrowed, face turned to stone as she spoke. “I have no thoughts.” And that was all she said, her face tight in concentration. Bow had thought she was deeply meditating on something serious, but in reality she had been trying to ward off any thoughts of the situation. It didn’t last long, though, as she soon let out a heavy, burdened sigh. “I have a lot of thoughts, actually. I just need to think on them, I guess.”

Bow gave her a solemn nod. They cared for the horses in silence, an uncomfortable feeling for the both of them, but everything Adora wanted to say was swallowed by her nerves. She saddled and mounted Swift Wind in record time and guided her noble steed down the gravel driveway. The gravel shifting under his sturdy hooves was a soothing melody to Adora ears. Some people like to sit on the beach in the sun, some people like to cuddle up in bed with a book, some people like to take a soak in the tub, but this was Adora’s relaxation. Spending time in nature with her steed. She turned left out of her driveway down a dirt trail where the sound of gravel switched to dull thuds against solid ground. Her and Swift Wind had taken this trail many times together so she trusted him to walk the path while she let her attention drift elsewhere. Looking up above her, she watched as the tree tops began to twist into a canopy, letting only small pockets of let shine through here and there. Just a little further down she could see birds nesting and flying from tree to tree, tweeting a happy little tune. Adora took a deep breath in and soaked in her surroundings.

For once since she had met up with Glimmer that morning, Adora felt at ease. It didn’t last long though, as guilt began to creep and set in. She felt silly for reacting the way she had, nearly letting herself revert back to the scared little girl she used to be. She wondered for a moment if she had let her guard down and bore her emotions for Glimmer and Bow to see but her thoughts were interrupted by Swift Wind halting to a stop, followed by a blood curdling scream.

“GAH!” Papers flew in the air around Adora and a pencil came crashing down on her face as she looked up at the mess. She looked over Swift Winds shoulder to see a girl fallen over on the ground near a log, dirt now covering her from head to toe. She quickly dismounted and rushed to the girls side for assistance, placing a hand on her arm to help guid her up, but the girl threw her arms out in defiance, nearly scratching Adora across the face. “Get your hands off of me!”

Swift Wind huffed and reared back into the air on his hind legs, scaring the girl even further with his loud bleeting. She panicked and kicked the ground in a feeble attempt to push herself away from the horse. In Adora’s own attempt to calm him down, he brought his front hooves crashing back down to the ground, eliciting another shriek from the girl behind her.

“Shh… Shh… It’s okay Swiftie.” Adora gently pet the horses snout as it settled down, almost forgetting about the girl covered in dirt behind her. She whirled around like a top and began clamoring for the ground, gathering the girl’s loose papers. “I— I’m so sorry about that, we’re not used to— to seeing people out on this trail— I think you just spooked him a bit, I’m so sorry.” Adora sputtered as she picked up the last of the pages. It was then she noticed that they were sketches, a lifelike bird sat in the paper on top of the stack, threatening to fly off the page. The drawing was mesmerizing but it was hastily snatched out of her hands by the other girl.

“Yeah, you should be, your beast over here could’ve killed me.” She shot Swift Wind a glare, who seemed as though he understood it and made an unsatisfied chortle back at her.

“Oh that’s not fair, Swiftie here wouldn’t have hurt you, he’s a big baby, all he would’ve done was run off.” She paused and cocked her head at the girl. “And then you would’ve had to spend the next three hours helping me find him.”

The girl looked ridiculous as she tried to convey her rage, but she must not have realized how silly she looked with dirt caked in her wild hair and speckled all over her face. Adora covered her mouth, trying to hide the giggle threatening to burst past her lips. The messy girl saw right through it though, and shoved past her with great force. “As if I would ever want to help you with anything, anyway.” She scoffed as she retreated down the direction Adora had been coming from.

Her heart skipped a beat as she watched the mysterious, grumpy girl walk away from her, eventually disappearing into the distance. She shook herself, squashed the feeling deep down inside herself and mounted Swift Wind again, continuing her stroll down their path until she reached the dead end where she was forced to turn around and go home.

—

At supper it was obvious that Adora’s mind had been elsewhere, but no one wanted to mention it. Instead, they exchanged worried glances around the table when they thought she hadn’t been looking. Eventually, though, the deafening silence became too much for the household to handle. Micah, at the head of the table, took a long swig of water and cleared his throat.

“I met Weaver’s new ward today.” He stated, glancing over to Adora and awaiting a reaction. She tore her gaze away from the peas she had been pushing around on her plate and raised an eyebrow at him. This had been enough for him to continue. “She seemed like a sweet girl, very bright. I was watching her care for the chickens over there, they seemed to respect her well enough.” He chuckled, if only to himself. “And you kids know how crazy those feathers for brains can be.” He looked around the table and his chuckle died down in his throat when no one joined him.

Angella swooped in to save her husband. “You kids should invite her over sometime, it’s not as though there are many other teenagers nearby, you should take advantage of it.” _And maybe you can save her from Weaver before it’s too late,_ was the unspoken adage that rang through Adora’s head.

 _Shove it down,_ she thought, _You’re being too dramatic, don’t get so full of yourself._

“Oh! A new addition to the Best Friend Squad?” Bow excitedly threw his arms around his friends shoulders and nearly pulled them out of their chairs as he embraced them. “That’s an amazing idea, Miss Angella!”


	2. Chapter 2

_“Adora.” Miss Weaver purred from the other side of the door. The knob rattled and shook until a clicking sound could be heard, followed by the large wooden slab slowly slinging open, revealing the haggard women behind it. Her hair fell in greasy black tendrils around her neck and she propped herself against the door frame, holding her head in her hand as though she were pondering life’s greatest letdowns, the holder of the number one spot sitting right before her. “Adora, Adora, let's try to do better this week, shall we?” Miss Weaver held a tattered backpack with folders and papers poking out here and there, hanging from the tips of her fingers, holding it away like it was full of infection. Without waiting for Adora to reach for it, she slung the bag on the floor in front of her bed and turned around in one swift motion and walked down the hall. Adora held out until the sounds of the retreating footfalls faded entirely before bounding out of her bed._

_It was the first time the door had opened since the previous Friday evening, when she returned home with a bad grade on a Spanish test. Fresh off the bus, Adora clutched the sheet of paper, balled up in her hands, like if she crumpled it in and out enough times the glaring 56% splashed across the top right corner of it would go away. She stared down at the ditch along her walk from the bus stop to home, considering tossing the paper in, but the fear of it blowing down the ditch and ending up in their yard struck fear into her. Of course the chances of that happening were slim, Adora knew that, but that slimness was enough to avert her._

_Now, with her door wide open for her, she took a deep breath. A small, crooked smile rose on her face and she was ready to try again, to try harder. She grabbed her backpack off the floor and bounded for her bus stop._

——

Adora awoke, covered in a sheen of cold sweat. With less excitement than she was usually able to muster, she dragged herself from under the covers. Sitting at the edge of her bed, she looked around her room, then out her window. The pane of glass was ajar, letting in a slight morning breeze. It was Adora’s turn for a day off from farm chores, but that never stopped her body from waking up while the stars just barely started fading out of the sky, relinquishing the territory for morning to come. Grabbing a shirt off the floor from her position laying on the bed, she wiped her damp face on it and made her way to the window. She started to shut it but stopped when she noticed a light coming from down the road. Coming from Miss Weaver’s house. 

It had been a week since the new girl came to Weaver’s and she has eluded all of Adora’s attempts to meet her. All she knew of the girl so far was that she was good with the chickens - which is a feat to behold, Adora has many scars to prove the temperament of Miss Weaver’s pride and joy - and her name was Catra. The name bounced around in the back of Adora’s head constantly since Micah had come storming into the house the day before, glowing over the girl’s achievements with Miss Weaver’s chickens. He had been toting around a basket of fresh eggs for everyone to see, ones that were significantly larger than what the chickens had typically produced. 

Adora had come to find herself outside, leaning against the deck posts, staring out into the direction of her neighbors homestead. She had ridden Swift Wind in the fields on her side of the road a few times in an attempt to catch a glimpse of Catra but it seemed like the girl was actively avoiding her. Every other day, it was as if Micah or Angella would come home with new tales to tell of the elusive girl, whether it was run-ins with her in town or out on Weaver’s land, it was like there were multiple Catras going around to interact with everyone except for Adora. 

Another light flickering on at the house in the distance focused her attention back to what she was staring at. She strained her eyes to try and make out what was going on but there was no possible way she could see from the distance. In a lapse of judgment, she took off down the front steps and made her way toward the now lit up house. As she got closer to her destination, stooping down in the tall weeds of her fields, she realized the second light to turn on had been coming from what she remembered to be Miss Weaver’s room. Adora’s heartbeat hastened at that, but she snubbed the emotions flurrying through her like stray embers. 

As the house grew closer, she was able to see a figure moving about, but not so clearly, just a general outline of what she assumed to be Miss Weaver moving through the house and flicking more lights on. She glanced at the room she assumed Catra resided in though she hadn’t been able to see any sign of movement. She tiptoed closer to the edge of the weeds where ground turned to pavement, parting some of them out of the way to try and get a better view. She was crouched low to the ground as if she were trained in stealth, she was just beginning to pat herself on the back for her slyness. 

“What do you think you’re doing, horse girl?” Adora was too late to notice the sound of approaching footsteps through the weeds. She whirled around in an attempt to quickly stand up, nearly tripping over her own feet and falling to the road behind her. An arm darted out to grab her own, giving her the balance she needed.

As Adora’s eyes adjusted after the shock of being found out, she was able to see her stalker more clearly. By the dawn’s light, she was able to make out the sharp - and angry - features of the girl before her. It took her a moment before recognizing her as the girl she had run into a week prior. 

“Heh, I prefer cowgirl, actually.” Adora was shocked at her own words, intending them to be a thought and not a statement. She gave the girl a shy smile, shifting her gaze between the hand still clasping her own arm and the dual-colored eyes piercing into her, not even the slightest sign of a smile. 

“Whatever.” She threw Adora’s arm out of her grasp as she spat. “I should tell Miss Weaver about this, I still haven’t gotten my revenge on you for almost running me over with your mammoth the other day.” 

Adora sputtered at the accusation, throwing her arms out in front of her as though the evidence of her innocence were right there in front of them. “I didn’t try to run you over with Swift Wind, you were in the way! You shouldn’t have been there anyway, that trail is technically our property, you know.” 

“And you’re spying on my—“ The girl stopped herself for a moment, looking past Adora’s shoulder at the house behind her. “Miss Weaver’s property.” Her nose scrunched up at the name before steeling up again. She crossed her arms tight across her chest, glaring daggers directly into Adora’s own eyes. 

The girl— 

_Oh, The girl!_

“Oh, hey!” Adora spoke out in excitement, jutting her finger out in front of her. “You’re Catra aren’t you?” She took a rushed step forward and Catra stepped back, maintaining the distance between the two. Adora pouted at the action, even though it went unnoticed. She wanted to say something else, but the thought was quickly cut off by the sound of a rooster crowing behind her. The sound seemed to mean much more to Catra than it did to her, for she huffed and brushed past Adora, briskly colliding shoulders before she stepped out of the field and on to the road. She shouted one last thing over her shoulder before she disappeared into a shed off to the side of her house. 

“And stop bringing your cow over here, it’s freaking the chickens out.”

“Swift Wind’s not a c—“ Her protest was cut off by the shed door slamming shut behind Catra. Adora waited a minute before heading back to her own home, waiting to see if Catra would come back out or if she had been hiding away from her. A figure moving through the kitchen window was the only thing that made her stay longer, moving swiftly across the room with haste. The door leading from the kitchen to the yard where the chicken coup was located was blown open, slamming against the outside wall, an angry Miss Weaver charging through it, still in her sleepwear. Adora ducked down to conceal herself further behind the high weeds. 

“Catra!” Miss Weaver shouted in a rasp tone. The door to the feed shed slowly cracked open but the door itself blocked Adora’s view, she could only hear the sounds of Miss Weaver’s angry voice. “Catra, inside this instant.” 

The door of the shed slammed shut, revealing Catra as she trotted over to Miss Weaver, throwing a quick, discreet glance over her shoulder in Adora’s direction. She fixed her attention back in front of her and disappeared into the house, followed by her caretaker. 

——

“I have a right to be worried about it, right?” Adora turned her head to meet the deep brown eyes of her companion. She waited for the response she longed for, but knew she wasn’t ever going to get. “You’re not really a great advice giver are you, Wellington?” 

The calf huffed at her before getting up to find his mother, accidentally stepping on Adora’s arm upon locating her. _Everyone seems to be doing that to me today,_ Adora thought to herself. She shifted so she was leaning up on her elbows and looked around at the pasture full of grazing cows. All of them lived such simple lives. They woke up, they mooed until someone came with a pail of food, they got milked when it was time, then they just roamed the fields all day until someone came to put them away for the night. Adora could’ve gone without the milking part of the day, but the rest of it seemed nice to her, she wouldn’t mind living like a cow for a day. Cows don’t have to carry around their trauma every day. 

Adora groaned and let herself fall back flat against the ground. She covered her face with her hands, screaming into them, letting all her frustrations loose. As she lay like that, snippets of memories rushed through her mind like a bullet train, one after another. She didn’t remember coming to Miss Weaver’s home, she was just always there. Weaver told her once, when she was very young, that Adora was abandoned at a fairground when she was around three years old and wouldn’t speak for the longest time until she was placed with Weaver. Nothing was known about her parents or where she came from, only that the tag on the inside of her shirt read “Adora” and that no one was coming back for her. 

No one was coming back for her. A thought Miss Weaver never let her forget. It was that sort of torment Adora had to endure on a daily basis for slightly over ten years under Weaver’s care. She always took her shot at Adora, always a discreet one, whether it be over being an abandoned child, or her scattered mind making it hard for her to succeed in school, Miss Weaver never missed a chance to fly under the radar and take a jab at her ward. 

_But she did good things for you, too._ The thought pushed itself to the forefront of her mind, cutting through the negativity at a breakneck pace, shattering it to pieces around it. _She put a roof over your head and taught you how to take care of the land and the animals. An evil person wouldn’t teach you how to nurture life._

Adora let go of her face, throwing her arms out to her sides. She turned to look down at her hand as she fiddled with a blade of grass between her fingers, trying to push the thought - and the oncoming sense of guilt - back where it came from. 

“Adora!” Glimmer and Bow sprinted towards her, smiles plastered across their face. The two of them were only ever that excited when they’ve just finished their duties for the day. They collapsed down next to her, the cows nearby them mozying away from the action. “Adora, we just got done and we’re starving.”

“Famished, Adora.” Bow interjected. “I’m weak and weary.” He slumped over into the grass, acting as though he were passed out from the exhausting day. 

Eventually, Adora gave in and accompanied them out for lunch. They ended up at a little diner in town, Adora sat in a booth next to Glimmer, using a french fry to drag ketchup across her plate as if she were painting a masterpiece. Bow sat across from them, talking excitedly to Glimmer about some new piece of equipment he wanted to convince Angella and Micah to get for the farm. Something about mowing the fields in half the time, Adora hadn’t been sure, it all went in one ear and out the other for her. Her attention could only be stolen by the dinging of the front door bell, welcoming a new customer. 

Adora locked eyes with the yellow and blue set across the diner and for a moment almost gave them a sheepish smile, until she noticed the dark and dreary woman she entered with. 


	3. Chapter 3

Catra didn’t like the situation one bit, but she was running out of options. She feared she was at the end of her line and couldn’t afford to mess up— Miss Weaver had been awful so far and she was certain there weren’t better foster homes to go to after her. She felt like she was stuck there as a punishment for being difficult about behaving in a home, but she knew in her situation it was just a matter of whoever’s lap she fell into next. She just had to be on her okay enough behavior for just a few more months and then she could just pack it up and go it alone, the way it was always meant to be for her. 

Being alone was one of the only good things about staying with Weaver. That, and the feather heads she was starting to get attached to. But other than the chickens, the only other living beings anywhere in sight were the neighbors just a ways down the road. Beyond them and their cows and horses, there was nothing there for miles, just fields and trees as far as the eye could see. On her second day at the farm, she found a quiet place down a trail where she was able to sit for hours and sketch, but she was interrupted by that loud blonde girl and her beast. Between that and her run-in with the girl that morning, Catra was beginning to think it was going to be difficult to keep her out of her hair. 

Not to say that that would have been an entirely bad thing. The girl was annoying, sure, but she wasn’t all that bad to look at. Catra caught herself smirking at the thought of her dorky smile and quickly straightened her face. She opted to sit in the back seat on this excursion but she didn’t want Miss Weaver catching her smiling at nothing through the rear view. As soon as the thought left Catra’s head, they pulled up to a shabby little diner that looked like it could blow over if you so much as breathed in its general direction. After the run-in with the neighbor girl -  _ cowgirl _ , Catra corrected herself with a smug grin - Miss Weaver had torn into her over being up early enough to goof about, but not early enough to feed the chickens, keeping them from crowing early. She had given up on trying to convince Miss Weaver that no amount of food can stop a rooster’s crow, no matter what the internet told her. Catra wasn’t an experienced farmhand and even  _ she  _ knew that. Regardless, Weaver took it upon herself to jumpstart her job search around town in an effort to keep her out of the way. Though, with school around the corner, Catra was unsure how she was supposed to get through her senior year while also maintaining a job, but whatever it took to not get kicked out before her time was up. 

As soon as the car was in park, Catra took out of the back seat. Not waiting for Miss Weaver to catch up to her, she pushed through the glass door, a gentle tingling ringing from above her. She looked up at the bell, glistening in the afternoon light. The greeting from the hostess standing at the booth in front of her went unnoticed as Catra’s gaze fell to the customers munching all around her. There was an old man sitting by the window front, reading a newspaper. A mother and father with their baby in a high chair, and…

That nerd from across the street with her ragtag team of friends. The blonde girl was holding a French fry in the air as she maintained dumbfounded eye contact with Catra. It didn’t take long for the wonder to turn to concern when Miss Weaver entered behind her, gripping Catra by her shoulders and walking her towards the hostesses booth. If Miss Weaver noticed Catra stiffening at her touch, she didn’t show it as she guided them to a stop and began speaking with the hostess. 

“Good afternoon,” the peppy girl greeted, working hard for her tip out. “Can I get you ladies a seat?” 

“Actually, my dear girl here is interested in a job.” She pushed Catra further out in front of herself. “We’ve noticed your ‘help wanted’ sign out front.” 

The employee's face flattened at the realization she wasn’t dealing with diners and nodded, holding her finger up to signal to give her a moment as she disappeared into the kitchen behind her. She reappeared shortly after with an application in her hand and instruction to come back the following day when the owner would be there. During the entire interaction, Catra could feel the cowgirl’s eyes boring into her from across the diner. 

_ You’re just begging for Weaver’s attention right now, aren’t you?  _

As if her thought made Miss Weaver’s radar go off, a low, dark chuckle came out of the woman. She placed her hand back on Catra’s shoulder and guided her over to the booth full of their teenage neighbors, waving some sort of goodbye to the hostess. The two companions of the blonde girl noticed them coming while the blonde had already been watching, and waiting, in horror. Her fingers gripped the table in front of her, threatening to shatter through the wood if she put any more strength into her vice grip. 

“Adoraaa…” Miss Weaver dragged out the name like she was trying to hold onto it with all her might, but it was just running away from her. They had come to a halt at the head of the table, the group cowering away from Weaver as she towered over them, holding Catra in place in front of her. “How lovely to run into you all here. Adora, have you been taking care of yourself, angel?” 

The sickeningly sweet tone coming from Miss Weaver seemed to send chills down the girl’s— down  _ Adora’s _ , spine. Catra met eyes with her and in that moment something seemed to come over her, the girl straightened her back and steeled her emotions, letting nothing show on her face. Miss Weaver didn’t wait for her to work up the nerve to formulate a response. 

“Have you all met my sweet Catra here yet?” She waved a hand out in front of her as if to put Catra on display. Catra could feel the twisted smile break out across her face. “She’s been doing wonders on the farm, picking up all of your old chores, Adora. The chickens have never been in better condition.” She looked over the group one last time. Catra’s ears perked up at the mention of Adora’s old chores. She eyed the girl curiously but her thoughts were cut short by Weaver. “And now she’s getting herself a job here in town, such a hard worker she’s being. And bright, to boot, I’m expecting her to graduate at the top of her class this year.” 

Adora squinted her eyes at Miss Weaver but she backed down quickly, tearing her gaze away and fixing it on her ketchup painted plate. Her fists tightened on top of the table before she quickly moved them, concealing them in her lap. Catra wanted to turn around and see what Miss Weaver’s expression read but the woman’s hands were keeping her firmly in place. Silence fell over the group for a moment, leaving a thick layer of tension behind. That was Miss Weaver’s cue to leave, but not before letting out a smug chuckle and bidding the group farewell. 

It was a rushed exit to the car, Catra practically being thrown into the front seat. It was the first time since they entered the diner that she didn’t feel like she was on a leash. She hugged herself, rubbing her own shoulders where she could still feel Miss Weaver’s grip. Catra dropped her arms before her caretaker opened the drivers side and dropped into the car. 

“ _ Insolent child _ .” Miss Weaver hissed. Catra tensed, leaning into the car door to try and get as much distance as she could between the two of them. She waited for whatever barrage she was rearing to let loose on her, but it never came. White knuckles gripped the steering wheel as Weaver trembled in anger. Had she been this angry just over Adora daring to put herself in her line of sight? Catra was confused and opted to just stare at the road in front of them instead of questioning it, even though her queries still tumbled around in her mind. It was better to leave it be than suffer Miss Weaver’s fury. 

“If you ever turn out to disappoint me the way that brat Adora has, you’ll live to regret it, Catra.” Were the last words spoken on the car ride, leaving a spike in Catra’s gut. 

——

Catra heard Adora’s warning about the trail being private property, but chose to ignore it. It was the only place nearby she had been able to find that let her relax in total serenity. The birds chirping and the sound of critters rustling around in the grass was all she needed to wipe her mind of any outside worries. Amongst these trees, all Catra had to worry about was herself in the moment. 

She came to the log she had found a perch on with her sketchbook days prior, but knew now that it wasn’t an optimal spot. A shiver ran through her at the memory of coming face to snout with the behemoth that the cute blonde girl was riding around on. Adora could claim that the beast could never hurt her, but it’s massive, clomping hooves said otherwise. Shaking the thought from her head, she walked on past the log and deeper down the trail, sketchbook and pencil pouch tucked tightly under her arm. As she walked, she would look over her shoulder every few paces to make sure there wasn’t a dorky blonde girl and her cow sneaking up behind her. 

Eventually, after what felt like an entire hike, Catra came to a clearing that seemed to be a dead end. She chose a sturdy tree that looked like it had been there for centuries and dropped her supplies down next to it. Last time she went down this trail, coming home covered in dirt, Miss Weaver reprimanded her for tracking a mess through the house and into the shower. This time, she would be sure not to get herself filthy as she slowly lowered herself to the ground. 

Taking a deep breath in, she grabbed her sketchbook and flipped it open to a fresh sheet of paper. Absentmindedly, she began sketching lines here and there, until a general shape began to take form. A huge, barrel chest formed on the page, falling down to thin, but muscular legs. Catra knew where the drawing was going and as much as she wanted to stop herself, she kept sketching new lines, bringing to life a rider with a ponytail flying out behind her, posed in a way that showed great control over her steed. The rigid sketch only took about twenty minutes to come to fruition, but when she was done, Catra wrinkled her nose at the depiction of her airheaded neighbor and flung the book to the side, displeased with how she decided to spend her time connecting to the pages. The sketches in the book flapped around on impact with the ground but settled back down, still showing the drawing Catra had wanted out of her sight. 

With no other choice but to look at the stupid thing, she began to wonder about the girl Miss Weaver wanted so desperately to single out at the diner. She gazed deep into the drawing, a close enough portrayal of what she remembered the girl to look like, thinking about what Miss Weaver had said to her in the car.  _ If you ever turn out to disappoint me… you’ll live to regret it, Catra.  _ The statement rang in her head on a loop, seeming to intensify the longer she stared at her drawing. What had this Adora girl done to leave such a bitter taste in Weaver’s mouth? In Catra’s case, it seemed all she had to do was exist in her presence to piss her off but - and she accepted it - she was more rough around the edges than what she knew this Adora to be. She traced a finger along the scratchy lines of her drawing, hating the fact that now all she could think about was the stupid girl and the stupid girl’s past. 

Catra huffed. Sitting up and drawing her knees into her chest, she hugged them tight against her, still maintaining her sights on the drawing. She threw her head into her knees and let out a long groan, the sound was lost in the leaves of the trees and didn’t travel very far, but Catra could feel all of its power. That groan let out a week's worth of her pent up frustrations. Constant berating from Miss Weaver since the moment she walked through the threshold, on top of the farm chores she had no clue how to deal with and had to resort to her own research, led to Catra being under nothing but stress. Since the day she got there, she felt like she was more an indentured servant than a loved foster kid. At least the families before Miss Weaver  _ tried  _ to make her feel welcome. She smacked her face into her hands and dragged them down back into her lap. 

_ And to think that Adora girl used to live like this... _

Catra couldn’t help but assume the girl used to be under Miss Weaver’s care, judging by the way Miss Weaver talked about her at the diner and the way the girl herself reacted in her presence. 

_ That girl seems normal enough, besides all that.  _ Catra let herself fall against the ground and look up at the canopy of branches above her, resting her arms across her forehead. She chuckled to herself, closing her eyes and basking in nature’s glory as she thought on.  _ If that beanpole can make it out okay, I can do even better.  _


	4. Chapter 4

“Heeeeeere, moo-cows! Come here cow-cows!” Adora, armed with a stick and a bucket of feed, stood before the open barn doors. She rattled the bucket with her freshly selected stick, waiting for the herd to come charging at her. One by one, the cows stopped grazing and followed the sound of the bucket. “Who’s the good moo-moos! You’re the good moo-moos!” 

Adora went stall by stall, tossing a handful of feed into each one and latching the door behind their respective tenants. She gave each one a pat on the head before bidding them all a goodnight and locking up the barn behind her. The sky was just falling to dusk as she crossed through thick fields to get to the stables where her steed was waiting to go on their evening stroll. With Glimmer and Bow going back to school in the coming days, Adora had picked up the majority of the chores again, keeping them from going on their ventures earlier in the day. 

Dropping out of school was a hard choice for her to make, but with Micah and Angella backing her decision with all of their support, they all signed the papers the day she turned sixteen and left the past in the past. It just wasn’t for Adora, who had found her calling in the farm’s dairy cows. Since the day she started working with them, she knew it was the life she wanted for herself and every day she spent in school just felt like time wasted that she could’ve been spending on the farm, caring for the animals. Her adopted parents were actually thrilled with the decision, as Glimmer and Bow had long since decided that they wanted to pursue a university education after high school and build a life outside of the farm for themselves. 

Adora, on the other hand, had plans for her home. She wanted to bring in more livestock and turn one of their many empty fields into a corn field. The way the farm was now, they only had their dairy cows and their workhorses they occasionally bred for other, trusted farmers around the area. Not that the farm had been at risk but it had just barely been sustaining itself for a long time. Adora’s goal was to raise it up from that, even though it would take time. 

She reached the stable’s where Swift Wind and the others had been put away for the night, unlatching the gate that kept her horse contained. With treats in her hand, she led him out of the stables over to the wall of saddles and got him ready for their ride. It wasn’t long before they were out on their trail, the sun sinking into the horizon, allowing the stars to begin lightly speckling the sky. With the moonlight barely breaking through the canopy of branches, Adora trusted in Swift Wind to guide them through the night. She could hear critters running out of their way and the twigs snapping under Swift Wind’s hooves as they tread deeper down the trail, nearing the end where it would open up to a clearing for them to rest at.

As Adora bobbed up and down on her horses back as he clomped through a tighter part of the trail, her mind began to wander back to the girl down the road, as it tended to do lately. After the confrontation with Miss Weaver at the diner, Adora staved off her desire to try and run into the Catra girl again, actively avoiding the diner - one of only two in town - that she now worked at. She had passed by the storefront a few times while out on errands to see Catra weaving between tables, balancing trays of food and looking as unamused as she probably felt. During one such occurrence, Catra had looked out the large windows as she was departing a table and caught Adora watching her. Her face quickly turned from neutral to enraged before she turned away, disappearing into the kitchen. Since that instance, Adora avoided taking routes that meant walking in front of the diner, trying to spare Catra of whatever made her so mad to see her.

A thin twig off a branch brushed into Adora’s face, bringing her senses back to the trail in front of her. About a hundred feet ahead of them she could see the trail opening up into the clearing, illuminated by the moonlight. As they strode closer, a figure began to make itself visible, Adora squinted her eyes at it to try and make it out. 

_Hah... Would you look at my luck..._

“Catra?” She called out as she came to the mouth of the clearing. The girl was leaned back against a tree with her head bent back in what couldn’t have been a comfortable position, with the top of her head practically flat against the tree, her mouth wide open as she took deep, slow breaths in and out. Adora dismounted, signaling Swift Wind to stay, and approached the sleeping girl. She knelt down beside her and gently placed a hand on her shoulder, giving her a small shake and whispered into her ear, “Did you not hear what I said about this being private property?” 

Catra awoke, turning her head towards her disturbance. 

“Jesus!” She fell over on her side, overwhelmed at coming face to face with Adora straight from her nap. Adora, still crouched where she had been when she nudged Catra, chuckled at the girl who was mirroring the position she was in when they first met. 

“I really have a way of knocking you off your feet, huh?” She shifted to claim the spot Catra had been sitting in, pushing her legs out of the way, an action that forced the other girl to sit up herself. Catra scooted away from her, pulled her knees up to her chest and rested her chin on them. 

“You’re not funny.” She said in a tone that lacked the bitterness Adora was used to. Swift Wind, who had been munching on thin branches at the edges of the clearing, had chosen a spot to lay down, drawing Catra’s attention to him. She stared at him for a long time, seeming to be concentrating really hard on the horse. After a while, she finally spoke again. “I found pictures of you in Miss Weaver’s attic. You were a dorky looking kid.” 

It sounded more like an accusation than a statement to Adora, but she slid closer to Catra, expecting her to scoot back anyway. When she didn’t, Adora took it as permission to talk but the other girl beat her to the punch. 

“She doesn’t have a lot of good things to say about you, you know?” Catra finally tore her gaze away from Swift Wind and set it on Adora. Yellow and blue eyes squinted, piercing through her as their owner continued. “Whatever you did, she’s taking her grudge out on me... So… Thanks for that. 

Adora cocked her head in shock, brows furrowed and mouth agape. She floundered like that for a moment before darting off the ground, now towering over Catra. “Excuse me?” 

“Exactly what I said.” Catra mirrored her, standing up and stepping up to Adora, having to tilt her head up slightly to scowl at her as they stood nearly chest to chest. “Every day since we ran into you it's been ‘Adora this’ and ‘Adora that,’ it’s like just seeing you sends her into a frenzy. What the hell happened?”

Adora’s gaze softened, she backed down and took a step away from Catra. “What happened? What happened was—“ She wanted to keep going but she bit it back. If there was one thing she learned under Miss Weaver’s care, it was to never show weakness, so she steeled herself and made her way to Swift Wind. 

“Wait no, get back here.” Adora could hear Catra’s hurried footsteps following behind her, but didn’t turn back. “ _Stop—_ stop and tell me what the hell happened.”

“Why should I? You’ve obviously already formed an opinion about me.” Swift Wind stood up instantly upon noticing Adora walking up to him. She slung her foot into the stirrup and readied her other leg to sling over the back of her horse, but was stopped by a gentle grip around her ankle. 

“Because you got out and don’t have to deal with it anymore,” Catra started, her eyes pleading up at Adora who finally turned to look down at her. “I deserve to know what I have to look forward to.” 

Adora looked away, letting her head fall down and letting out a long sigh. She dropped back down to the ground, patting Swift Wind as an apology for disturbing him from his rest and allowing him to get back to it. As she spoke, she began to walk back to the tree they had originally been sitting at. 

“There used to be four of us; me, Lonnie, Kyle, and Rogelio…” She took a moment, the gentle smile she tried to hold on to didn’t go unnoticed by Catra before it fell into a frown. Adora couldn’t believe this had been happening, she never expected this conversation to pan out like it had been so far, she wasn’t even sure it was ever going to happen. Now, she felt like she was on air as memories began to swirl around in her, filling the pit of her stomach with a vile blackness, her nerves jittering around, threatening to rip her away from reality. She did her best to stave it all off and proceed. “Miss Weaver always did her best to pit us against each other. I used to think it was so we would all try our hardest but nowadays I know it was because she wanted us to be enemies instead of allies, singling us all out so none of us had anyone to confide in. Years went by like that until somewhere along the way Lonnie got it in her head that I was the favorite, she got Kyle and Rogelio on her side and from then on it was over for me. I guess that’s when Micah and Angella started to notice and began taking me under their wing, I would finish my chores at Weaver’s and then go down the road to do some there and they would actually give me an allowance. But when Miss Weaver found out, she began to find any excuse to lock me in my room so I couldn’t go to their farm anymore.”

Adora took a moment to check and see if Catra was still listening. The girl's eyes seemed to glow as she caught her staring widely at her, giving her a nod to go on. Adora cleared her throat and broke the eye contact, fixing her gaze on a shadow in the distance before continuing. 

“I don’t know exactly what happened behind the scenes, but I had to talk to a lot of people, retelling the same memories I rather would have forgotten about over and over to all of them, each of them again and again. They all did the same thing, it was like I might as well have just been talking to the same person over and over, they each just nodded, never even looking at me, just nodding and writing in their notepads, like they were scrutinizing over every single thing I said and—“ Adora hadn’t realized it, but her voice had begun to strain and her chest had started heaving up and down rapidly as her breathing turned to hyperventilating. She caught herself before it got too bad and began clawing at the dirt by her sides in an attempt to ground herself. Her vision was hazing out and she couldn’t see Catra coming up to her in her peripheral but she felt the hand lay itself on top of her own and the tips of the girl's shoes poking into her thigh. She fought through it and collected herself the best she could, taking a deep breath in before continuing. “After all the interviews were over with, I don’t remember how long it took but it felt like forever, Micah and Angella were able to adopt me and the others were— were moved to another home… Hmm… You know they— they hated me to begin with, can you imagine how much they must have hated me after that? After they decided to band against me, they became the best of friends… and I probably separated them…” 

They sat in silence. Catra tightened her grip around Adora’s hand but, to the other girl’s dismay, let go of it, wrapping her arm back around her knees and pulling them tighter into herself, as if it were even possible. Adora twisted around to face her and mirrored the position.

“I’m sorry, Catra.” Adora said to the ground between them after a long bout of silence. “I’m sorry I didn’t try hard enough. It was all for nothing.” 

At that, Catra let her grip on her knees go, allowing them to splay out in front of her in a V, her feet resting on the ground on either side of Adora. 

“Fuck…” Catra scowled at the same patch of ground Adora had opted to speak to, trying to carefully sort out what she would say. She huffed and wrinkled her nose. “I guess— you know— it’s not like you didn’t try your best. It’s not your fault. Besides, I was already suspecting I got stuck with Miss Weaver as a punishment… all of that just proves my point, I guess.” 

“P-punishment?” Adora cocked her head again, but this time out of curiosity rather than anger. Catra looked up at her and gave her a short chuckle.

“I think, combined, we only have the emotional capacity for one sad life story tonight, princess.” 

Adora laughed, letting her legs fall down in the same fashion Catra had, nudging at her knees so the other girl would let her slide her legs under them. With a deep sigh, she let go of all the stress she had previously been letting take control of her muscles, throwing her head back to look up at the starry night sky for a beat. 

“You know, all that aside…” Adora turned her attention back to Catra, catching her just as she was looking back down from the stars herself. “We really do need to discuss whether or not you understand the definition of ‘private property.’” 

—- 

Catra refused to ride back on Swift Wind, claiming she didn’t trust the “cow’s” eyesight in the dark, no matter how hard Adora tried to convince her that horses could see better than she could at night. After not winning that particular argument, she decided to walk next to her steed while accompanying Catra out of the woods. They parted ways at the end of Adora’s driveway after exchanging awkward good nights and Adora trying to convince Catra to give Swift Swind a goodbye pet. As luck would have it, though, she didn’t win that argument either and gave the horse’s nose a pat in her place. 

Finally in her room for the night, exhausted from the day of work and emotionally taxed from baring her soul to the girl next door, she collapsed into bed, not even bothering to change out of her overalls or take her shoes off. Adora lulled herself to sleep not even believing the entire exchange happened, almost convincing herself the whole thing was just a hallucination. Before drifting off, she did do one thing to prove that the night actually happened. Pulling her phone from her pocket, she smiled at the sight of the new message chain open where Catra had typed in her number and sent a text bubble saying “Adora” to her own phone. She had claimed it was in case of emergencies, but Adora chose to believe it was because she was starting to grow on Catra. 

Adora was less reluctant to show it, but Catra was growing on her too. 


	5. Chapter 5

After parting with Adora, Catra took down the pavement in the direction of Miss Weaver’s house. From the distance, she could hear the chickens squabbling in their coup, probably arguing over a perch to rest on. She smirked to herself, closing her eyes and letting the night breeze crash against her face as she listened to the flustering chickens and the weeds swaying, rustling all around her as the wind weaved through them. Looking over her shoulder, she could still sort of make out the silhouette of Adora leading her monster back to its stable. She bit her lip, focusing her attention back in front of herself. Closing the distance between her and the house, she crept as quietly as she could through the side door, ensuring she hadn’t disrupted the chickens more than they already were. 

“Out for a late night stroll, are we?” 

Catra nearly jumped out of her skin. She cursed herself for letting the time slip by the way she had and believing Weaver wouldn’t notice. Slowly, she turned around, ready to face whatever beratement Miss Weaver had ready for her as she sat hunched over at the table. With a heavy sigh, she picked up a glass that contained a deep red liquid and downed the remnants, replacing it to its original position. Catra held her breath, pressing her back flush against the door as Miss Weaver slowly rose to her feet, taking swaying steps towards her. As she closed in, she rose a hand into the air, eliciting a flinch from her ward, before letting it cup Catra’s face as she took her final steps in. 

“Catra, I’m begging you…” Miss Weaver ran her calloused thumb across Catra’s cheek bone, letting it rest under her ear as she gently cradled her chin in her remaining fingers, tilting her head up ever so slightly. The putrid smell of wine lingered in the air between them as she spoke. “Promise me you won’t waste your time with that rotten girl like I had, her only purpose in her life is to ruin others...” Her gentle touch quickly turned to a vice grip, ripping Catra away from the door and pulling her close, making her come near nose to nose with Miss Weaver as her face puckered by the force of her hand. “ _ Don’t  _ let her ruin yours as well.” 

With a harsh shove, Catra collided back against the door, nearly falling to her feet, but steadied herself, not willing to let Weaver catch her wavering. For a moment she thought back to her talk with Adora. If this had been the way Miss Weaver handled a full grown teenager, the tales Adora told of her time here as a child must have only been the tip of the iceberg. Catra glared at Miss Weaver, daring her to make another move on her, but she only scoffed at the little girl before her. Without a word, she lazily smirked down at Catra and turned to make her exit, grabbing what was left of her bottle of wine and leaving the glass behind before disappearing down the hall. 

——

Catra waited by her bus stop at the end of the road, rocking back and forth on her feet as sweat began to trickle down the back of her neck in the early morning humidity. She quickly wiped it away and brushed it onto her pant leg. Miss Weaver either actually didn’t know when the bus was supposed to be there or just hadn’t wanted to tell Catra when it came because she hated her, which was just as plausible. 

She heard a sound that she briefly coaxed herself into believing was the bus coming for her, until she looked around to see a big goofy smile and and even bigger hair poof running up behind her, brown paper bag in tote. 

“Did you forget a backpack? Is your only class lunch or something?” Catra chuckled at her own joke and gestured at the bag in Adora’s hand as the girl took the remaining strides towards her. 

Adora held it up in confusion before pushing it out in front of her, shaking it in front of Catra to take. “No, this is for you, silly. I know Miss Weaver isn’t the ‘pack a bagged lunch’ kind of lady, so…” She pushed the bag into Catra’s chest, shoving her hands deep into her pockets after she finally accepted it. 

Catra looked down at the bag and gave it a small smile. Something in her chest felt like it was tightening, she cleared her throat to try and shake the feeling but she could sense a rush of heat in her ears as she struggled to put the bagged lunch in her backpack, sheepishly thanking Adora for the treat. 

“Of course.” Adora said, she seemed to be twisting her hands around in her pockets but Catra paid it no mind. “Just make sure you eat the fruits and veggies, you know, to make up for all the greasy crap you’ve been consuming.” 

Catra smiled at the reference to their conversation from a few nights prior. She had been at work, texting Adora out of boredom due to it being a slow, _ slow  _ night at the diner. It was one of their first text exchanges. They had ended up talking through her entire break, where Adora had poked fun at Catra for getting a shift meal that consisted entirely of fried foods, and then into the rest of her shift, where Catra complained about her annoying customers and how she had to share her tip out with the even more annoying hostess. 

A car’s horn pulled Catra out of the memory. “What the hell?” She looked up to see Adora’s adopted sister waving at them. Before pulling away from the stop sign, she winked at Catra and gave her a thumbs up, leaving the girl unsure of what the gesture meant. She looked back to see Adora waving at the car as it drove off. 

“She’s thrilled she doesn’t have to deal with the early morning chores anymore.” Adora chuckled. She turned her attention back to Catra and gently shoved the girl, who had been wearing a plain expression. “Hey why’re you being such a grump? You’re gonna have a good day, right?” 

“Yeah.” The tightening in Catra’s chest reversed and turned to swelling as Adora gave her the brightest smile she’d ever seen. “Yeah, I guess I’ll have an alright day.” 

Adora’s smile grew even wider, but it didn’t last for long as the sound of a roaring engine came up behind them, drawing her attention towards it. The doors of the bus squeaked open as it pulled to a stop, granting Catra entrance to the massive yellow tube. She turned to Adora but was thrown off guard by the girl throwing an arm over her shoulder and throwing the other one out in front of them. 

“Welcome to your first day, the bus ride is long, awful, and uncomfortable, but go have fun and get good grades.” She gave Catra a pat on the back before giving her a gentle push forward. Catra started her ascent up the stairs, but turned around when she realized Adora hadn’t been following her. 

“Wait, you aren’t coming?” The question left her lips, but the doors shut, barricading them from each other before Adora could give her an answer. The blonde girl gave her a big smile and waved goodbye as the bus driver barked at Catra to find a seat before driving off. She was thrown off balance for a moment but gathered herself, using the benches full of fellow students as balance. 

As she made her way down the aisle, many of the other kids silenced themselves or chose to speak in harsh whispers as they shot glances over to the new girl. She recognized many of them as customers from the diner and wouldn’t be shocked to know that they were trying to antagonize her under their breath as they narrowed their eyes at her. 

_ These people really don’t like an outsider, huh?  _

Catra found an empty bench and claimed it. It didn’t take long for the bus load of kids to return to their normal volume, most of them seeming to have moved on to other topic while others still occasionally glared at her from over their shoulders. 

She blocked out the few eyes that were still boring into her and pulled her bag into her lap, rummaging around for the paper sack she had hastily shoved away earlier. A quick image of Adora’s dorky smile flashed on her mind as she retrieved the bag. She grinned to herself for a moment and stuck her hand in to find an apple. A note fell into her lap as she pulled the piece of fruit from the bag, Catra’s name scrawled in cutesie cursive font across the folded piece of paper. She took a bite of the apple and picked the note up, delicately unfolding it to reveal a… poem? Catra looked over her shoulder to make sure no one was looking and read the poem to herself 

_ First days are always dreary  _

_ But here are yums for when you get weary  _

_ When your belly is full _

_ And you’re all through with school  _

_ I’ll be there with a whole load of queries  _

_ <3 Adora _

  
  


Catra covered her mouth to hide the smile curling on her lips. Her heart raced like she had just gotten off a treadmill as she folded the note back up. Shooting another glance around her to make sure no one was being nosey, she retrieved her wallet from her bag and tucked the note away into one of its many sleeves. 

——

_ And I’m gonna have to deal with this every day? Seriously?  _ Catra did her best to stretch out her stiff legs before she had to cram herself into an uncomfortable desk for the next hour and fifteen minutes. The bus ride was far longer than what Catra assumed from what Adora said, she cursed her for not being more specific. Catra had been building up a good list of reasons to get revenge on her little cowgirl. 

As she walked through the doorway to her first class, her attention was immediately stolen by the purple haired girl from earlier that morning, sitting at a desk near the edge of her first block classroom. The girl—  _ Glitter?  _ Glitter waved excitedly to Catra, waving her over and giving the seat next to her a pat. Catra looked around at her other prospects and decided she had no better option, weaving through the mass of desks and students. She tossed her bag on the ground, only realizing after the fact the she hoped the remnants of Adora’s packed lunch wasn’t anything squishable. She gave the bag a quick adjustment after dropping into the seat next to Glitter. 

“Hey.” Catra leaned away from the girl who had scooted her desk slight closer to her. “I’m Glimmer,”  _ Oh.  _ “Adora’s told me so much about you, I’m so excited we’re in the same class, can you believe it?” The last part came out more shrill and enthusiastic than Catra was comfortable with. She gave  _ Glimmer  _ a tight smile and nod before trying to fix her attention on the teacher, who had started her intro while passing around copies of the syllabus. “You know my mom’s been wanting to invite you over dinner, has Adora asked you about it yet?” 

Catra’s eyes widened before tearing her attention away from the still speaking teacher and shooting Glimmer a look she hoped came across as  _ Are you kidding me right now? _

It did not. 

“Yeah, yeah, this Friday why don’t you come over then?” Glimmer beamed, giving Catra a look she was sure others had a hard time saying no to. She almost had denied the offer in hopes that it would dissuade the girl from talking to her further but she stopped herself and huffed in resignation. If she wanted to be acquaintances with Adora she would probably have to get along with her family too. 

“Sure, whatever.” And that response seemed to work better than she had hoped saying no would have. Glimmer gave a quiet squeal and scooted her seat back over, allowing Catra to put her attention back on the teacher that she didn’t actually care about as she droned on about the expectation for the semester. 

—- 

Catra’s next class went by fast, seeing how she napped through the history teacher’s entire explanation of the syllabus. Just as he was finishing up, she awoke to the sounds of the other students around her shuffling papers into folders and binders, packing them away as they got ready for dismissal. Catra followed suit and crammed the sheet of paper the teacher had handed out at the beginning of class into her backpack, exchanging it for her phone out of the front pocket. A banner flashed across the screen to indicate a new text message. 

**[10:42am] Adora:** Have u killed anyone yet?

Catra rolled her eyes. 

**[10:59am] Catra:** brave of you to message me after ditching me on the bus alone >:( and ur cow pal glitter did in fact almsot get it 

**[10:59am] Catra:** i thought the queries were meant to be for after school though, cowgirl 

**[11:00am] Adora:** Sorry :3c 

**[11:00am] Adora:** Don’t worry there are more queries for later ;p

Locking her phone to stow it away, Catra caught herself smiling in the reflection of her blacked out screen. She quickly scanned the room to make sure no one else had caught it before zipping her phone back up into its pocket. 

The bell for lunch rang and though Catra wasn’t entirely sure where the cafeteria was, she figured her best bet was to follow the small sea of students flowing in the same general direction. She recognized many of the students passing around her from the bus and even more of them from around town. Soon, as the sea of students spilled into the large dining hall, she realized that the student body was significantly smaller than her previous school’s had been, seeing mostly the same faces she already had throughout the day. 

Standing at the edge of the cafeteria, Catra glanced over the heads of all her schoolmates, searching for an empty table to claim. She spotted one in the opposite corner, a smaller round one that no one had chosen yet, and started working her way through the crowd, avoiding the stares and hushed conversations from everyone around her as they began settling into groups. 

“Catra!” 

She flinched, her fingers digging into the straps of her backpack as she looked over the crowd to find the source she knew the shout to have come from. Out in the middle of the sea of bobbing heads and shifting bodies, Catra’s eyes fell on the girl from her first period class, sitting at a round table surrounded by the boy she had recognized from around Adora’s farm and a few other girls who were smiling and waving her over, well except for one of them. The lanky blonde one fervently patted an open seat beside her with a look of pure glee glued to her face as she met eyes with Catra over the crowd, with a buff white haired girl sitting next to her waving excitedly with both hands. 

_ Oh dear god, how dare you leave me alone with these people, Adora.  _

  
  



	6. Chapter 6

The table had garnered some attention as they coaxed Catra towards them, attention to which they all seemed to ignore. Glimmer grabbed the farmer boy, gripping his shoulder with one hand and forearm with the other, giving him an enthusiastic shake as Catra plopped her bag on the table, looking each of them over as Glimmer introduced them to her. Her eyes fell to Mermista. They stared each other down for a moment, both wearing similar unamused faces, before Catra took the seat next to Perfuma. The thin, blonde girl opened her mouth to say something, but Scorpia - who had seemed to be too excited to pay attention to what the others were saying and doing - interjected, leaning across the table and extending a hand out to Catra that was almost as big as her head. 

“Hiya, I’m Scorpia,” She grabbed Catra’s hand, clasped between both of her own and shook it with vigor, a grin splitting her face the whole time. “I’ve seen you at the diner a few times, you’re pretty scary.”

“Yeah, that place sucks.” Catra deadpanned, pulling her hand from the girl’s grip. She looked at the faces around her, staring at her expectantly. Looking to Glimmer, she cleared her throat and folded her hands in her lap. She spoke with a shrug and tilt of the head. “Uhh— thanks for inviting me to sit with you?” 

At the school’s Catra attended in the past, she opted to be a wallflower - none of the other kids her age wanted anything to do with her and vice versa. She never stayed in a home long enough to connect with any of her foster siblings, so she never had any personal ties to her peers or cause to form any. To her, everyone was kept at arm's length to not interfere with her ever changing life, to not cause pain when it was time to move on again. So to say the whole sitting around in a circle with what seemed to be a well established friend group was a whole other world to her would be an understatement. She took a shaky breath in and out as she retrieved the lunch Adora had prepared for her, to which she found to be a sandwich with a bag of celery sticks and peanut butter. 

_This girl’s a mess._ Catra thought as she opened the baggie of celery, the peanut butter loose at the bottom in a big glob. _God that’s so fucking cute._

She could feel a pair of dark eyes boring into the side of her face, the Perfuma girl leaning in closer to her, squinting her eyes at her with a stupid grin. Catra turned to her, holding her stick of celery in the air in front of her. Bow and Glimmer began to watch the exchange intently, not trying to hide the fact they were clutching hands under the table. 

“Yes?” She spoke, squinting back at the girl who was now inches from her face, still grinning wistfully. 

“Hmm,” She giggled, holding the tips of her fingers to her mouth and leaned in even closer to Catra, now nearly touching noses. “Adora said you were pretty, but I’ve only seen you from afar, I think I believe her now.” She spoke with her eyes closed and in a tone that made her sound like she could break through realms and speak with the void. Closing the distance between their noses, causing Catra to go cross eyed, she touched them momentarily before pulling back and going, “Boop.” 

“Perfuma!” Glimmer and Bow shouted in unison, slamming their hands on the table and breaking the mystical illusion Perfuma had been holding over Catra. Catra flushed and cleared her throat. 

“Sorry, she’s really high right now.” Bow said, raising his hands up in surrender as though it was his fault. 

“Mmhhmm.” Perfuma hummed and straightened her posture back into her own seat. 

“You’re all embarrassing.” The quiet girl, Mermista, spoke up, crossing her arms on the table and hunching forward, coming to rest her chin on the heel of her palm. 

The group of friends broke out into a conversation of their own, allowing Catra to eat her lunch in silence and listen to bits and pieces of their tales. Admittedly, Catra had never actually eaten during a lunch period before and had to say that it was refreshing. She would have to thank Adora again when she saw her later. 

“Wait, how come you guys get to hog the new girl?” Catra had phased back into the conversation when she felt the large pair of hands cup themselves over one of her own. Scorpia was leaning across the table again, giving Bow and Glimmer a pleaful gaze with her bottom lip jutted out in a pout. 

“I’m sure Catra doesn’t want to be overwhelmed by so many people her first time having dinner with the parents.” Glimmer took a drink from her water and winked at Catra. The rest of the group chuckled as Scorpia’s pouting furthered. The joke flew over Catra’s head, who raised an eyebrow at the group. 

She cleared her throat and gave them a shy grin, though it was more directed towards Glimmer than the rest of them. “Yeah, Micah takes enough energy out of me for all of you.” She wasn’t sure what to do when the group broke out in laughter, so she smiled and chuckled along at her own joke with them. She tried to enjoy the moment, but her laughter had died down in her throat as she noticed all the pointed glares coming from students sitting at the tables surrounding them. 

The bell to signal the end of lunch rang abruptly, shaking Catra. The dining hall full of students began to shift and move in waves as the student body flooded out into the halls. Catra gathered her things and nodded a goodbye to the group, ready to fall in line with the flow of bodies to search for her next class until Glimmer circled around the table and tapped her on her elbow before she could walk off. 

“I know the bus ride is really long and uncomfortable, you should let me drive you home. If you want, meet me in front of the school later, I'll wait for you.” She gave Catra a smile and wave before the group said their goodbyes and dispersed in different directions to their next class. 

——

The day passed in different flavors of the same syllabus. Even her sculpting class had a syllabus to cover, as if they were going to be spending every other day writing an essay on how to push the pedal of a pottery wheel. The bright side of the day was Glimmer had kept her word about giving Catra a ride home, saving her an hour’s long bus ride. She had asked Glimmer not to drop her off at her own house, to which she gave Catra a quick flash of a sympathetic glance and a solemn nod. 

From the driveway, she could see her blonde cowgirl in the distance, who looked to be dragging barrows full of something or other from the barn and into the back of an old pick-up. Catra thanked Glimmer once again for the ride and took off towards the pasture full of cows, Adora disappearing into the barn as she grew closer. The herd of cows made a fuss at her as she walked through their field and came to a rest, leaning up against the opening of the barn. 

Adora was bent over into a stall as she raked its contents out into the middle of the barn. Catra stood there for a moment, just watching, before clearing her throat and pushing off of the beam of wood she had been resting on. The blonde jumped, dropping her rake as she turned to face the intruder, arms out as if she was ready to attack if need be. Her face softened at the realization of who was interrupting her, she smiled and brushed her hands on the front of her overalls before as she approached Catra. 

“Hey, hi, sorry I thought the bus would’ve taken longer, I would’ve met you at the stop.” Adora pouted for a moment before her smile returned, an eyebrow raised accusingly. She rested her hands on her hips and leaned toward Catra, clicking her tongue and raising her chin before speaking. “Did you skip out early?”

Catra scoffed and rolled her eyes, brushing by the girl to look at the pile of what she had been scraping out. Her nose scrunched up as the smell registered before the visual and she quickly turned on her feet, facing back towards Adora. 

“Your lackey drove me home.” She crossed her arms in front of her chest and kicked the dirt at her feet. “She invited me to some dinner this Friday? Said you were going to ask me, what’s that about?”

“Oh?” Adora’s eyebrows shot up before her face morphed and transformed to one of guilt. “ _Oh…_ yeah.”

“What? Afraid to bring the big bad wolf to the little piggies?” Catra chuckled, trying to bury her sincere concern of the matter deep in her laugh. 

Adora’s face twisted into a smile - to which Catra silently thanked god - as she hitched a thumb over her shoulder, gesturing to the herd lazing about in the field. She raised an eyebrow at Catra and rested her other hand on her hip. “Those are _cows_ , Catra, which you’re about to help me milk since you’re back so early.” Adora brushed past the other girl, using much less force than Catra usually did, feeling more like a whistle of a breeze past her shoulder, their hands colliding for just a moment. Suppressing the bloom of heat in her chest, Catra turned with her movement as Adora went to the wheelbarrow she had been scooping the manure into. She threw a shovel to Catra, who somehow managed to catch it, holding the tool in front of her in confusion. Adora gestured to the pile next to her. “Scrape the rest of this up while I refill the stall so we can get started.” 

“You know I don’t do free labor.” Catra wanted to protest further but a hard glance from her friend before she turned to a barrow full of fresh hay shut her up for the moment. 

_Oh why am I doing this?_ Catra held her breath as she scooped the pile of waste, shovel load by shovel load into the wheelbarrow. “Didn’t I tell you once that I would never help you?” 

“Hm, I don’t think that’s exactly what you said, but even so, look at you now.” Adora poked her head out of the stall to see the other girl stepping away from the nearly cleaned up pile to gasp for somewhat fresh breaths of air. She chuckled and returned to her own task, which she completed moments later. 

Catra had been happy to have dropped the dinner discussion, even if it meant gasping in lungfuls of cow poop, but Adora seemed to have other plans as she picked a spare shovel off the wall of the barn and came to Catra’s aid. She fell into a momentarily silent rhythm of shoveling before shooting Catra a shy glance and clearing her throat. She looked down at the now cleared patch of ground as she spoke. 

“It’s not that I didn’t want to invite you to the dinner, I really want you to be there, it’s just—“ The smile she aimed at the dirt began to fade. She looked to Catra, but threatened to break the eye contact just as fast. 

“I know what you’re thinking,” Catra interjected, holding a palm out to Adora to try and save the connection. “And I can take care of myself. Besides, I already accepted. It was the only way your Glimmer buddy was gonna shut up.” Adora gave her another weak look before letting it shift into a small smile, seeming to have accepted Catra’s response. 

In theory, milking the cows was a much easier task than Catra expected it to be. Adora had set out a contraption with tubes connected to a plastic barrel and led one of the cows over. Catra had been instructed to gather a bucket of soapy water, which she had been patiently standing next to as the blonde led the massive dairy cow towards her, tying it to a post in the middle of the barn. 

“Don’t tell me you’re afraid of the cows too.” Adora joked as Catra took a step away from the animal. 

“I’m _not_ afraid, it’s trying to sniff me, I don’t want it to _sniff_ me.” Catra spoke through gritted teeth. She picked her bucket up and carefully crossed to where Adora had set up a stool. She was sitting face to face with the animal’s udders as she tried to conceal a grin. With a sponge in hand and the bucket by Adora’s feet, she showed Catra how to clean the cows’ udders and ready them for milking before connecting them to the contraption. Handing her a rope, Adora instructed her to gather the next cow and get it ready, a smug grin across her face at the sight of Catra being so far out of her element. 

Begrudgingly, Catra went out to the pasture. She threw a glance over her shoulder as she walked away to see Adora whispering to the cow as the machine milked it and gently stroked her side, seeming to bring a calmness to the animal. Her heart fluttered, the sensation from when their hands grazed each other returning to her chest as she took in the scene. The feelings turned to a dull thud of pain as her ass made contact with the ground unexpectedly. She let out a sound similar to a squawk and searched for the cause of her tumble. From inside the barn, she could hear Adora laughing, but ignored her as heat crept up her neck and over her ears. 

Bringing herself to her feet, she brushed off dirt and what she hoped wasn’t shit. She huffed at the bovine that sent her flying, looping the rope around its neck and tugging it over to the barn. Fuming at the ground, she tied the cow to the pole Adora - who had still been stifling giggles - had the other one tied to and began the task of cleaning it, avoiding the other girls bright and shining gaze. 

“This is the only time I’m _ever_ helping you with this bullshit.” She scrubbed the cows underbelly and let out a sharp sigh, blowing a piece of hair out of her face in frustration. “I can’t believe you’d rather do this all day than deal with the cow’s at school.” 

——

Catra sat in her bed, laying sprawled out over the sheets as the moonlight trickled through her window, casting a large square of light over the room. She had been sure to be home before Miss Weaver had a chance to get suspicious of her and slipped into her room without being sighted. 

She wasn’t sure, however, why she kept catching herself thinking of the blonde neighbor girl as she lay with her eyes scrunched shut and an arm draped over her face. There were plenty of other things she could have been thinking about. What she was going to wear to school the next day, should she switch her first period class as to not deal with the shrill purple haired girl anymore, when would her work schedule be posted for the next week…

But all of her thoughts kept circling back to the cowgirl. Adora’s laugh, her smile, the way she looked so at peace when she worked, the way her muscles rippled and worked when she carried the new bags of feed and tipped them over into their container... Her heart raced as she recounted everything they had done together in the short amount of time they had that evening. Catra couldn’t recall a time where she had been happier to be put to work. Thinking back, there were plenty of times she could’ve stopped her assistance and just sat around doing schoolwork or something of the sort, but despite all her complaining she was happy to try and help, happy to see the other girl perk up when she made herself look like a fool trying to help. 

Abruptly sitting up in bed, Catra clawed at her chest, pushing her back flush against the headboard and feeling her heartbeat speed faster and faster as she kicked the sheets away from her. She tried to shove the thought back down but the onslaught of _Adora_ just kept coming, her smiling, giggling face pushing to be the center of attention in her head, in her chest...

_This is normal,_ Catra thought, holding her head in her hands and holding her forehead to her knees. _This is just what making friends feels like... Yeah..._

  
  
  



	7. Chapter 7

Adora, already exhausted from the morning’s work, put the last touches on Catra’s lunch, packing it away into the paper sack she had at the ready. It had become part of her morning routine, along with Catra soon after bursting through the side door of the kitchen. She already had the mug of black coffee ready for her at the edge of the counter, waiting for when she came in. 

“What I don’t get one?” Glimmer scoffed as she peeked into the cup of dark, steaming liquid. Adora rolled her eyes and made a mug of coffee appear in front of her, setting creamer and a bowl of sugar to the side. “You’re really turning into a fine housewife.” Glimmer smirked into her mug as she took a long sip, her eyes skirting over to Adora and quickly looking away before settling on the packed lunch she had placed next to Catra’s coffee. 

Adora resisted the urge to reach out and tip the mug of hot liquid up and over her face. She bit back her smile and leaned into the counter, folding her hands in front of her and putting her weight down on them. “There’s nothing wrong with making a little something to eat for a  _ friend. _ Besides, you know Miss Weaver isn’t doing it. _ ”  _

Glimmer looked over to the window, glancing out for a moment before looking back to Adora, a sense of concern washing over her face. “Just be careful, Adora,” She sighed, stirring sugar into her coffee. “Don’t bowl too hard and fast into this like you did with Huntara.” 

Adora was in the middle of pouring her own drink. Setting it down rough enough she thought for a moment that she could have broken it, she began to sputter, a defense ready at her lips. She opened her mouth to speak, but Glimmer held a hand up to stop her in her tracks. 

“Don’t try to say it’s not the same thing, either, you have the signs all over you.” She puckered her lips trying to find what else to say “It’s not that I’m not happy for you, just take it slow before you hurt yourself again.” She held her hands up in surrender but Adora had long since stopped registering her words. 

“Signs?  _ Signs?  _ I don’t have any ‘signs,’ thank you very much, Glimmer.” Adora crossed her arms in front of her chest with a huff. “You’re the one who’s had a crush on the same boy her whole life and won’t say anything.” 

Glimmer's face fell open in shock. “Look at you!” Glimmer threw her hand out at the coffee and paper bag setup again. “And technically I didn’t even  _ say  _ anything about a crush,  _ just saying. _ Says more about the situation than you think it does. _ ” _

Adora had so much to say, her finger already pointed out in protest, but at that moment, the side door flung open, a disheveled Catra standing inside the frame and letting out a loud yawn. Glimmer shot a glance to Adora that read  _ This conversation isn’t over  _ and took another sip from her coffee as the new addition to the group settled into the seat beside her. 

Just seeming to notice the tension in the room, Catra looked between the two girls as she curled a hand around the mug. “Did I just walk into the middle of some weird sibling fight?” She chugged the still warm coffee, nearly downing the entire cup in one go. 

“No.” Adora quickly interrupted, wiping her hands on her jeans pulling a chair around to her side of the counter and taking her perch on it. “Angella wants to know what you want for dinner tomorrow night, she wasn’t sure if you had allergies.”

“Apparently she tried asking Miss Weaver and she just said ‘I hope so.’” Glimmer laughed at her own joke but swallowed it when she noticed the glare Adora had been sending her. Catra shook her head and chuckled, grabbing the paper sack from in front of her and storing it into her bag. 

“Thanks, Princess, the crackers and hummus you prepared for yesterday were  _ exquisite _ .” Catra gave Adora a tired grin and wink. She clasped her hands under the counter and leaned over the surface, allowing a bellowing yawn to escape her gaping maw. Adora hid her smile in her mug and uttered a welcome, ignoring the cocky twinge curling in the corner of Glimmer’s lips. 

Glimmer stood, taking the last few swigs of her drink and slinging her backpack around her shoulder. Catra thanked Adora one last time before following her ride through the door. This was the only time Adora partially wished she was still in school, when she was watching Catra get into Glimmer’s SUV to be whisked away for the day. Maybe she did seem to have a little bit of separation anxiety. Adora shook herself.  _ Does Glimmer have a point?  _ But it’s not like it’s her fault, Catra is just  _ cool _ . She couldn’t see how anyone wouldn’t want to spend all their time with her and learn her quirks and take care of her. It wasn’t because she  _ liked  _ her, she just wanted to be her friend and Glimmer should’ve known that. Plus, she knew how much it scared Adora that Catra resided under Miss Weaver’s roof, she should’ve understood that she was bound to pay special attention to her. 

The car pulled out of the driveway, Adora hugged herself as she watched them disappear down the road.  _ I may care about Catra but this isn’t like Huntara, Glimmer.  _ Her face scrunched up in anger before falling as the pain sank in. Of all the things Glimmer should’ve known, one of them should’ve been to not mention that name so soon. Or ever, now that she had thought about it. She fell back into her chair, cradling her head in her hands as the past relationship began to fill her memories. 

_ Catra is nothing like her.  _ Adora shook her head back and forth in her hands in an attempt to shake the memories away. Flashes of strong arms and white hair, a grin that told everyone she was in charge.  _ Even if I  _ did  _ see her that way, she wouldn’t hurt me like that, she’s good to me.  _

“You okay, hon?” The cabinet door shut, pulling Adora from her hunched over position and drawing her attention to the cause. Micah poured himself the rest of the coffee, getting another pot started as he looked to Adora with worry. His hair was tied back and a thin sheen of sweat covered his forehead, evidence of the work he had been getting into that morning. 

“Y-yeah, I’m okay. Just feeling sick, I guess.” Adora clenched her stomach and gave Micah a pout. Angella appeared from the other room, swooping in beside him and laying a gentle kiss on his cheek, earning a glowing smile from her husband. 

“If you’re not feeling well, you should take the day to rest, dear.” Angella snaked an arm around Micah’s neck and smiled down at him, turning her beaming face to Adora. “The cows have been tended to this morning?”

She nodded, her stomach twisting and churning from the nerves. Thanking her adopted parents for the unexpected day off, she rose from her seat at the counter and stowed away to her room as they smiled behind her. 

It took her no time at all to strip out of her work clothes and change into a thin pair of sleepwear, promptly burying herself into her comforter. She hugged her pillow as she got comfortable, trying to shake the phantom touches that lingered on her skin as memories still played in her head. The ghost of a strong, calloused hand brushed up her side, leaving goosebumps behind that were pinched so tight they nearly hurt. Adora clenched her teeth, the bones screeching against each other like nails on a chalkboard. 

She turned over onto her back, trying to collect herself as she watched the ceiling fan turn around and around. As she was taking deep breaths in and out, her phone vibrated next to her head. She reached under her pillow to grab it after taking one more moment to try and gather her emotions. A banner flashed across the screen, Catra’s name with a small angry cat emoji glared at her as the phone lit up the darkened room. 

**[8:07am] Catra:** glimmer almost just killed me AND a deer

The fog that had fallen over Adora began to clear as a gentle smile rose on her lips. She let out a sharp exhale, something similar to a laugh, as another chat bubble appeared. 

**[8:07am] Catra:** wouldn’t it be worth to go back to school if it meant my life would be in safe hands on the way there?? 

**[8:08am] Adora:** There’s always the bus ;)

Adora, giggling at her own comment, probably thought her joke was funnier than Catra had. She bit her lip as the bubbles to indicate her friend typing popped up again. 

**[8:08am] Catra:** that's NOT safer adora

**[8:08am] Adora:** Stop complaining and tell me what you want for dinner tomorrow

She tossed her phone to the side. The thoughts of Huntara were still present but began to fizzle out, the pain starting to be replaced by exhaustion from the emotional toll and her morning chores. She had already finished a significant amount of work before being dismissed for the day, leaving her with sore muscles and an aching back. The hay had been replaced, the herd fed and milked before she led them out to the pasture, feed bins replenished, amongst a few other smaller things she ticked off her mental list. 

Adora’s eyes began to droop shut and soon she was dozing off with a mind full of cows. 

——

“Knock, knock.” Angella entered the room with a tray. 

Despite the clatter as she set it down next to her daughter, Adora didn’t shake from her rest, a line of drool trickling from the corner of her mouth. Seeing Adora like this, looking so small and fragile as she slept with her brow tightly knit, reminded Angella of when she was a young, vulnerable girl still living with Miss Weaver. She gently sat down on the edge of the bed, brushing a loose strand of hair away from Adora’s path of drool, gently tucking it behind her ear. 

Even though she knew Adora kept something of an emotional distance from the rest of the family, seeing herself as more of a worker than a daughter, it never stopped Angella from trying to be anything less than the best mother for her. She knew the foul woman down the street did whatever she could to tear the girl down to her barest bones, it showed in all of her personal relationships as she grew older and turned to a deep concern for Angella. Though she was filled with conflicting feelings of the situation, it was why she was sort of relieved the new Catra girl had drifted into her daughter's life. She feared for the girl’s welfare, but was glad to see Adora open up to her in a way she’d never seen her do before. The worry of history repeating itself in the Weaver house wasn’t absent in her mind as Catra had been spending more and more time on the farm with Adora, but this time, however, Angella was armed and ready to intervene before the situation could come to its worst. 

Looking to the tray of soup and crackers and back to her daughter she had prepared them for, she sighed knowing she couldn’t disrupt the girl’s rest. She placed a gentle kiss on her forehead before carefully lifting herself from the bed, taking the soup with her on the way out, but leaving the crackers for when Adora awoke. 

——

Adora’s eyes fluttered open. She could hear footsteps coming up the stairs as she stretched her arms and legs out, the covers shifting off of her with her movements. As she twisted around in bed, her eyes fell to a tray full of crackers. She came to a rest, sprawled out on her back, and began to lazily snack on the treat as she felt around for her phone. After a few moments of searching, her fingers finally grazed the device. She began reading the banners across her screen, most of them being texts from Catra or Glimmer and Bow, but she came to one that left her paralyzed in shock, crumbs from her snack tumbling out of her mouth as it sat agape. She didn’t have time to even read the message before her bedroom door flung open. 

Glimmer’s expression was unreadable. She crossed the room from the door to the bed in a flash and came crashing down on top of the sheets, barely missing Adora’s leg. 

“I’m sorry, Adora.” She looked like she was about to break down and cry. “I think I jinxed you, I’m sorry.” She threw herself down into Adora’s lap, throwing her arms around her waist. 

Adora, still in somewhat of a shock, lifted her phone back to her attention as Glimmer muttered something she couldn’t understand into her stomach. She hoped the banner would’ve disappeared, that she just hallucinated it was there because of the stress from that morning. Under three texts from Catra, one from Bow and six panicked ones from Glimmer, there was the one notification she never wanted to see again. 

**[2:43pm] Huntara:** How’s it hangin, sweet cheeks? 


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW warnings at end

Catra knew fear. You couldn’t live with Miss Weaver for a month and _not_ know fear. This, however, was on a whole other plain. 

“Watch it!” Catra clung to whatever she could hold on to as Glimmer nearly blew another stop sign. First the deer, and now she wanted to wrap her car around someone else’s, and all before they even made it fifteen minutes away from the house. 

When they finally pulled up to the school’s parking lot, Catra was begging to be on solid ground again. Lunging out of the passenger seat, her feet made contact, but didn’t stay planted on the ground as long as she hoped they would’ve. Along with the rest of their group, Scorpia was ready to greet them, scooping Catra up in an embrace and lifting her off the ground as she gave her tightest squeeze. 

“Ahhh, little buddy, I missed you.” Scorpia gave a little shake before dropping Catra back to the ground. 

“Another assassination attempt failed.” Glimmer came from around the car and ruffled Catra’s hair, earning a glare from the girl as she straightened it out. 

“I knew you were trying to kill me.” 

Catra had surprisingly easily fallen in line with the group of friends, Scorpia’s unexplained affection for her seeming to help as her first week of school flew by. She wouldn’t say she got along peachy keen with all of them, but there was a spot that seemed to be fit just for her and she filled it. Admittedly, everything since meeting Adora felt unusually natural to Catra, as if they had known each other in another life. Like they hadn’t met by happenstance and they were put in each other's path, not to meet for the first time, but to meet again after lifetimes past without each other. Catra smiled at the thought, nearly colliding with a railing before Mermista pulled her out of the way. They scoffed at each other, which was typical conversation for them, as they came up the main steps of the school. Bow rushed ahead to hold the door open for the girls. 

Other kids lounging against the cement wall going up the steps had been giggling and whispering in the direction of the group, which usually ticked Catra off, but today it seemed the other teenagers were more incessant, their laughs louder, their whispering more obvious. Catra was ready to yell at someone as she passed Bow going through the door, but her glare landed on a girl standing outside of the gymnasium doors in the main hallway of the school, toting a gym bag over her shoulder. 

“Oh, _fuck.”_ The hallway grew silent as the group fully entered the school, Glimmer’s exclamation swallowed up by the sea of students. 

Catra didn’t like the way the girl was looking at them and she especially didn’t like the way the eyes of the crowd around them kept shifting between the girl and herself. She was _big_ , easily beating Scorpia in muscle mass. As the the thought passed her mind, Catra looked to her own muscular acquaintance, who appeared much smaller than usual as a look of what Catra thought could have been fear grew on her face. 

“Glimmer and company!” The girl broke through the crowd that had been surrounding her, raising her arms in the air like she was a big shot. It wasn’t much for her long legs to bridge the gap between them. “So good to see you all.”

Her arm span was long enough to wrap Glimmer and Bow in one arm and Mermista and Perfuma in the other as she embraced the majority of the group in one go. 

“Aren’t you supposed to be, I don’t know, not here anymore?” Glimmer was the first to push out of the embrace, the shove doing little to effect the other girl. 

“Can’t a girl come back to visit every now and then?” She turned to Catra, looking her up and down before letting out a short laugh and bending over to meet her at eye level. “And who’s this pipsqueak?”

“It’s _Catra,_ thank you.” She swatted the girl’s face out of her own like she was a mosquito. “And I’m not as interested in knowing who you are.” Catra heard a guffaw from Scorpia as she turned her back on the group to walk away. She didn’t make it but a step away before a rough, meaty hand clapped down on her shoulder. 

“ _Oh,_ so you’re Adora’s new farmhand I’ve been hearing so much about.” Her grip on Catra’s shoulder tightened, her head tilting to the side as she bore a ravenous grin. “Well isn’t this—“

“Huntara, stop.” Glimmer, though easily the smallest person involved in the situation, shoved her way in between the two other girls, effectively releasing Huntara’s grip on Catra. She spun around to glare at the girl who had the nerve to grab her in such a way. 

“Yeah, it’s none of your business anymore.” Bow interjected, Scorpia, Perfuma and Mermista chiming in behind him, adding their own warnings and threats. 

The crowd began to form in a circle around them as they all stood by the entrance. Silent, expectant and excited expressions donned by them all as they looked on to what they hoped would turn into a massive girl fight. Catra sneered at her surrounding peers and back to the Huntara girl. Nearly in unison, they squared their shoulders to face each other, Catra with her fists tightened and curled into her sides, ready to fly if she needed them to and Huntara with her back straight as a board and hands planted firmly on her hips, chest thrust out like she were the hero of an action movie. Everything was silent for a moment before the bell to signal the start of first period classes rang throughout the school. 

Huntara let out a bellowing laugh. “I sure don’t miss that bell telling me when I need to get places.” She went to make her exit, stopping at Catra and laying a hand on her shoulder before lowering her head to make firm eye contact. She flashed a toothy grin and chuckled at the girl in her clutches. “I think I’ll be seeing you around, pipsqueak.” She tightened her grip and shoved Catra to the side, sending her crashing into Perfuma. She pulled away to take off after the girl who assaulted her, but Perfuma - surprisingly strong for her stature - hooked her arms underneath Catra’s own and held her back in place. Huntara waved a cheeky goodbye as she pushed through the front entrance of the school, the crowd dispersing in the opposite direction leaving Catra and her small group alone in the main hallway. 

Perfuma still had her arms hooked under Catra’s, looking to her friends to be sure it was safe to let her go. They nodded at her, Catra lunging out of her arms the moment her grip loosened. 

“Is somebody going to tell me what the hell that was about?” Catra furiously paced in front of the group, throwing a hand behind her and gesturing at the door Huntara had just left through. 

“I’m starting to think school just isn’t a thing that was meant to happen today.” Glimmer stood stressed, rubbing her temples. “I should’ve listened when that deer wanted us to turn around.” 

Catra didn’t have the energy to argue with Glimmer’s ridiculous statement, still too frustrated at being manhandled by a girl three times her size. 

“I know somewhere we can go instead.” Perfuma held her finger in the air like she was struck by genius, gently grabbing onto Catra’s hand and pulling her through the front entrance. 

“Wait, hold on, are we skipping school now? You know, my moms aren’t gonna like this. Guys!”

——

Perfuma led them through the woods behind the school, taking them maybe half a mile deep before it came to a gentle slope of dirt and roots and then a more steep, but short, drop. A small trickle of a stream flowed down the center of the shallow crevice in the earth. Perfuma dropped down the cliff first, pointing out good spots to use as foot holds and grips on the way down. 

“Why did we need to come all the way out here?” Catra swiftly scaled down the short cliff and came shoulder to shoulder with Perfuma as she looked out into the water. The stream had only been maybe ten feet across but it was large enough to sustain life. Catra crouched down at the edge of the water and watched as a school of tiny fish swam with the stream, looking like an oblong metal plate gliding through the water as they moved in harmony with each other. 

“Because no one wants to deal with boring _school_ after finding out the threat of _Huntara_ is roaming about town.” Mermista landed with a thud on the packed sand, opting to drop from the top of the cliff instead of climb down. She brushed off the dirt from her front and crossed to Perfuma, handing her a package of something Catra couldn’t identify as it switched hands so deftly. “Plus, I’m sure everyone will have _a lot_ to say to you and I’m sure you don’t want to be there for it.”

“Adora is going to _kill_ me, I can’t believe I jinxed her like this.” Glimmer was holding her head in between in her hands, threatening to pull the skin from her face. She let out a strangled groan and graciously accepted the item Perfuma had passed her. The smell soon hit and Catra recognized the stench of weed as the group fell into a circle, sitting cross legged on the ground. Scorpia and Bow declined the substance, handing it to Catra. 

“I’m still waiting for an explanation, guys, who’s this ‘threat Huntara?’” She took a long drag from the doctored cigar, and another, before passing it back to Mermista. 

“Really? Am I gonna have to be the one to explain it?” Bow threw his hands out into the center of the circle. The girls stared at the ground, none of them wanting to be the one to answer the question. Bow sighed and gave Catra a sorry look. “She’s Adora’s… ex?”

Catra tightened her jaw at the title, her back teeth grinding against each other. _Really?_ That’s _what Adora is into? Beefcake jerks?_

“She was really secretive about the whole thing.” Glimmer shrugged her shoulders, the drugs seeming to set into her system. “I think she hid it because she knew Huntara was a jerk- she went to school with us but she graduated a few years ago, when Adora was still enrolled.” 

“They started talking a few months before Huntara graduated and I guess they tried to maintain the long distance thing—“ Bow was cut off by Glimmer’s hand flying in front of his face. 

“Which I told Adora that was _stupid.”_

“They were _in love.”_ Perfuma clasped her hands in front of her and rest her chin on them, her eyes drifting shut as she seemed to take a meditative stance. 

“ _Adora_ was in love, Huntara was a cheating sack of shit.” Mermista spat on the ground behind her. 

Catra’s eyes darted around the group as they each threw out their own sentiment on the relationship. The blunt came back around to Catra, who felt as though she actually needed the relief this time around and took two much longer drags from it before passing it on. She was already numb from the moment Bow had started in on the explanation. Yes, she had only met Huntara for a brief period of time and sure, maybe she could see the charm she could’ve possessed at one point, but she just couldn’t see Adora in the arms of the buff older girl. She certainly couldn’t understand how Huntara could cheat when she already somehow obtained the perfect girl in Adora. 

“Wait,” Catra held her hands out in front of her, her head slowly growing lighter. “If she was so secretive about it all then how do you know all this?” 

“Hah!” It wasn’t a laugh of joy or humor, the cynicism oozed from Glimmer’s single note chuckle. “You should’ve seen her the night she found out, she was a mess— I can’t believe Dad didn’t find out.” Her voice faltered halfway through, her face that had previously been twisted in anger fell to sorrow. “She was drinking and she was angry and when we,” She circled her hand around to indicate the group of friends. “Found her she, spilled the tea all over the place… And she’s going to be _so_ mad at me when I get home.”

“Why do you keep saying that?” Scorpia was consumed by worry for her friend, extending an arm over Glimmer’s shoulder and lowering her head to meet her eyes. 

The blunt came to her, now nearly a roach. She sucked the last hits out of it, sending Catra a nervous glance as she snubbed it out in the dirt. She clenched her jaw and closed her eyes before leaning back and supporting herself by her arms extended behind her, head tilted to the sky. She let out a huff before speaking, letting her head drop back down, her chin settling against her chest. 

“I was just…” She waved her hand around in front of her like she could magic the words into existence. “I was just being a jerk I guess, and I brought up Huntara and threw it in her face and now this is my punishment for being an ass.” 

The conversation turned to the group trying to reason with a stoned Glimmer that she couldn’t have possibly summoned the girl into town, but Catra still had a growing rage boiling in her system. The gears in her mind worked, piecing together the little bits of information she got from the group in their inebriated state with what she knew from her, albeit short, personal experience with the girl. She craved to be back in the main hallway of the school, back within arms length of Huntara, so she could grab her by her stupid ponytail and send her face crashing into the wall with all her might. Catra had to fight for her piece in homes before and she was more than confident in her ability to take down a larger opponent. 

“Catra?” She was shaken out of her thoughts by Perfuma leaning over to her. “Are you okay? You’re going all… red?”

——

Their little excursion spilled over into second period. Catra had been the only one to point out that if they had already missed half their classes, it would be noticed in a school that small if they were to return midway through the day. Scorpia and Bow had been nervous about skipping in the first place and chose to take the risk and return to their next class, needing Perfuma as a guide out of the woods and back to school. The rest of the group preferred to stay at the spot by the stream, the charm beginning to grow on Catra the more time she spent there. 

Mermista was standing out into the water, her jeans rolled up her legs so they wouldn’t get wet. She was holding her hair back as she bent over to inspect something under the surface. Glimmer and Catra had been laying out a little ways away, eyes closed, letting the rays of sun wash over their exposed skin, Catra’s shirt hiked up just under her bra, exposing her stomach to the light. 

“I like you more than I liked Huntara.”

Catra peeped an eye open. Glimmer was still laying with her’s shut so she followed suit. “That doesn’t mean much considering how much of a bitch you made her out to sound.” 

“I like you _a lot_ more than I liked Huntara.” 

They sat in silence for a beat as the implication set in to Catra’s brain. Her eyes shot open when it fully registered, she kicked at the dirt as she pushed herself up into a sitting position, her heart beginning to thump harder. “I’m not sure what you’re getting at, but I don’t think you have the right idea in your head about me and Adora.” She swatted her hand out in Glimmer’s direction like she was trying to bat her insinuations away. 

“Sure I don’t, Catra.” With that, Glimmer stood from her spot on the ground and took off to join Mermista in the water. “You know, you guys are really exhausting me with this stuff today.”

Catra huffed. She reached for her bag, pulling her phone from the zipper pocket. Since her last message to Adora about dinner, she had not gotten any new ones from the girl, or anyone else for that matter. Not that she was exactly expecting the latter but from Adora, however, it was odd given the patterns Catra had gotten used to over their past few weeks of texting. She assumed, hoped, that the girl had been busy with her cowgirl duties.   
  


_Or maybe she’s been busy with Huntara._

Catra shook the idiotic thought from her head. She pulled up the text chain with Adora, trying to think of what to say before settling on—

**[2:02pm] Catra:** u okay?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW: substance use - marijuana


	9. Chapter 9

Adora held her head in her hands, her fingers splayed across her face as her head bobbed up and down with her bouncing knee. Glimmer sat beside her on the bed, massaging circles into her back. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Adora’s phone flash with a new notification. Checking to make sure her sister hadn’t seen it first, she reached over and gave the screen a tap, a new message from Catra flashing across the screen. 

“Look, why don’t you just ignore Huntara’s text.” Glimmer picked up the phone and put it in front of Adora’s face. One hand dropped to her lap as she let the full weight of her head rest on the other, squinting at the bright screen in the still dimmed room. Shoving the phone into Adora’s now free hand, Glimmer clasped her own between her knees and leaned into her side. “Just block and move on. Catra wants to know if you’re okay, why don’t you message her. I’m sure she’d rather be with you then stuck in her house with Weaver.” 

Turning the phone over in her hand, Adora let it land with the screen facing her. She stared at it with intent, thinking if she could leer at it long enough she could will the device to block the intruding number for her. A resigned sigh escaped her lips as she passed the phone back to Glimmer. 

“You do it, you block it.” 

With a few taps and a roll of her eyes, Glimmer fulfilled the request and pushed the phone back into Adora’s hands, but not before pulling up the chain of messages between her and Catra. 

“Now can you please message her back, she was checking her phone like every two seconds on the ride home and she probably still is.” She reached over and gave Adora’s knee a comforting squeeze before leaving her to be alone with her thoughts and her phone. 

As the door shut behind Glimmer, heat began to spread through her body, up her neck and across her face. Clenching her jaw, threatening to shatter her teeth, not really caring if they did, Adora closed her eyes, scrunching them tight together. She hadn’t realized she had been holding her breath through her miniature temper tantrum, releasing it all in a loud gasp of air. Her head began to pound as oxygen rushed to fill her lungs. The phone that had been long forgotten, clenched tight between her hands, vibrated and drew Adora’s attention down to it, her head still throbbing. 

**[2:02pm] Catra:** u okay? 

**[3:48pm] Catra:** just checking in. i guess. let me know if u need anything. 

**[3:53pm] Catra:** im gonna stop now but pls text me soon. ur freaking me out. 

Adora quickly went to type. 

**[3:53pm] Adora:** No, don’t

**[3:54pm] Adora:** I’m sorry I’ve been sleeping all day, Glimmer just got home 

She threw herself down on her back, splaying her arms straight out beside her on the bed. Her phone vibrated on her stomach. 

**[3:55pm] Catra:** u? sleeping in the middle of the day? and ur not having separation anxiety from ur cows? 

**[3:55pm] Adora:** I’m having some sort of anxiety. Meet me down the trail?

——

She hadn’t messaged back, which had been making Adora nervous. Swift Wind was resting at the other end of the clearing, laying in the dirt and munching on a low hanging branch. Checking her phone one last time, she set it down next to her and let her head fall back on the tree she was resting on. 

Adora was beginning to feel foolish, thinking Catra could’ve been at work and unable to meet her. She let her eyes drift shut, allowing the sound of birds whistling and the breeze making the leaves dance against each other fill her ears. The sun was still high in the sky, sending down a blanket of warmth on Adora’s skin, which she gladly soaked in. The wind came and blew her loose strands of hair, tickling the skin of her neck and behind her ears. She scratched the spot and tried to comb them out of the way. 

“Hey Adora.”

Adora’s eyes flew open, letting too much light in at once and momentarily blacking out her vision. When it cleared, Catra was planted on the ground next to her, her face twisted into a worried expression. 

Adora gave her a weak smile and scooted closer to her. She was reminded of their first time meeting, when Catra was quick to move away from her advances, but this time she leaned into the action, allowing Adora to rest her head on her shoulder. “I heard you got roughed up there earlier.”

“I did  _ not  _ get roughed up— who told you that?” Catra pulled away from her but promptly returned at the sight of Adora’s pout. She leaned back in with a huff, straightening her back against the tree. “Really nice taste you got there, by the way.” She gave Adora a small shove before finally letting herself relax against the tree. Adora could feel the other girl’s body ease up as their sides pressed against each other. She took the chance to nuzzle her head further up Catra’s shoulder and into her neck. Something about the action soothed her and as Catra didn’t protest, she hoped she felt the same. 

“I never claimed to have made the best choices in the past.” Calculated and cautious, Adora reached her free hand across her body and lightly grazed the tips of her fingers across Catra’s arm. Her breath caught in her throat as the girl's arm shifted into her touch, allowing Adora to rest her hand on Catra’s wrist. Adora cleared her throat, heat creeping up her neck and spreading to her ears. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know people at that school even still talked about me, much less that  _ she _ was going to be there to talk about me  _ with _ . She was always jealous— of anyone, I’m sorry it was you.” 

Catra emitted a content humming from her throat, letting a comfortable silence fall over the duo. Adora melted into the contact, she felt like she could’ve sat for hours in that silence. Though she may have wanted it to last forever, she wasn’t bothered when Catra picked her head up to speak, shifting her body so she sat with her knees drawn to her chest and her feet poking into Adora’s thighs. 

“You don’t need to worry about me, Princess, but…” She trailed off, snaking a hand hand around the back of her neck and digging her fingers into her long hair. Adora adjusted herself to mirror Catra, giving the tip of her foot a gentle nudge to urge her to go on. Catra let out a huff. “Nothing, just don’t worry about me.” 

“You know,” Adora dropped her legs, putting them out to either side of Catra. “Once upon a time, you told me we didn’t have the emotional capacity for two sad life stories in one night. That was a while ago and you still haven’t told me yours.” 

Catra raised an eyebrow at her, cocking her head to the side. “My bullshit? Right now? Seriously?” She pointed to herself, slightly hunching her shoulders in as she switched to sitting crisscrossed between Adora’s legs. 

“It’s better than talking about my bullshit.” Adora swung one of her legs into Catra’s knee, hoping it would get the girl to budge but she just continued to stare at her with a blank expression. “You’re not getting rid of me and it’s bound to come up sooner or later so you may as well just spill it.”

“Whatever.” Catra scrunched her face up in a way that she probably meant to come across as infuriated but to Adora it just looked like she was about to let out a sneeze. She ran her hands through her hair and let out an exaggerated huff. “ _ Whatever…  _ I was a kid, I lost my parents, I got put into the foster care system because both of my parents’ families hated them and didn’t even know I existed. I hated everything, blah, blah,  _ blah _ , now we’re here.” It was Adora’s turn to raise an eyebrow. “Seriously, that’s all you’re getting out of me.” 

“You can’t elaborate on at least one of those tiny details?”

“Can you elaborate on the whole deal with Huntara? Your friends weren’t that helpful when they tried, they seriously can’t handle their ganja, you know. All I know is you met and she… did… that…” Catra faltered. Adora’s face dropped, knowing full well what she was implying. Reaching a hand out to try and figure a way to comfort her friend, Catra tried to express her apology in her eyes but Adora was quick to break eye contact and stare at the ground. 

“Yeah…” A small smile sprung to her face as though a fond memory were being projected onto the patch of dirt she had been staring into. “We met. I liked Huntara. A lot. She was exciting, always had a crazy story to tell, every girl wanted to be with her… but she liked  _ me.  _ She started paying a lot of attention to me when she was a senior, before I pulled out of school. Yeah, she was kind of a jerk sometimes, but no one ever gave me that sort of attention and it was coming from  _ her.  _ She was cooler and older and everybody either wanted to be friends with her or wanted to go out with her, she was on top of the school and being with her was the only time I felt like I fit in there outside of my group. _ ”  _ It was like a dam opened up in Adora. Everything all of a sudden was ready to let loose at once and pour all out and over onto Catra. The fact that she lost the little battle of stubbornness they had going wasn’t lost on Adora and she cursed herself for being so much easier to crack than Catra. “It’s your turn. I’ve said enough, you go now.” 

“And then you’ll go again?” Adora rolled her eyes but nodded anyway. This was enough for Catra to go on, clearing her throat. “Fine. My parents were addicts, I guess, or that’s what I was told by shitty brats in homes along the line. Supposedly they started a fire in the basement of our house when I was a kid, five or something, some sort of chemical explosion.” She waved her hand in the air like the fact didn’t really matter, but Adora sat with her mouth hung wide open in horror. “When the fire department came, they got me out of the house and in the chaos of them pulling my parents out, I snuck away. I was able to make it on my own for a few weeks, before CPS caught up to me. I actually think those were the best few weeks of my life.” She finished with a wry smile, her last statement resonating with Adora while Catra looked pleased with the achievement. “Don’t give me that look, it’s your turn again.” 

“I can’t go up after that! What the heck, Catra?” 

“You sure as hell will.” Catra gritted her teeth and crossed her arms in a way that told Adora she meant it. She looked to Swift Wind for help but the horse seemed to have been asleep for a long while at that point, leaving his rider defenseless. 

“Fine, uh…” She squinted at Catra, trying to remember where she was. “Well, I guess that I thought Huntara gave me a lot of attention, and only me. She showed me off and she took me to parties, and I guess I never really realized how much attention she gave other people when we were out? I tried to keep her and my friends separate as much as I could because they didn’t like each other, that probably should’ve been a red flag, but I really loved her. Or I thought I did, at least. We talked and went on dates and… spent nights with each other.” Her cheeks began to burn up. She looked away from Catra, putting her attention on Swift Wind. “And then she graduated and went to college. She evolved from jerk to full blown asshole.” She pushed her hands out in front of her in an explosion effect and let them drop to the dirt between her legs. 

They fell into an easy rhythm, Adora only needing to shoot a wordless glance to prompt Catra to pick up her own tale. A breeze began to whip up, sending leaves swirling around them as Catra went on. 

“I missed the funeral while I was out on my own, but I’m glad I wasn’t there, to be frank. From what I remember of my parents, they were more just the adults that I shared a house with and every now and then there was a bag of cereal in the cabinet for me. We never really talked or did family things or bonded or anything like that. They spent a lot of time in the basement and I spent a lot of time in front of a tv. The rest after that is kind of history for me, honestly.” Catra gave a dry laugh. “I got the same hand most every other brat in the system was dealt. I flopped around a lot, I know most of it was my own fault and now I’m stuck with the wonderful Miss Weaver, you know how that is.” Adora wanted to push more out of her but Catra insisted that it was all the same thing over and over for her. 

“That’s not fair, that throws me off, I was supposed to start this and you were supposed to finish it.”

“No,  _ that’s  _ not fair, you can’t just make up rules along the way, especially when we went into this conversation without any.” Catra picked a pebble off the ground and pelted it at Adora’s arm. Adora reacted to the assault, checking the area of her arm that was targeted before grabbing a handful of dirt and tossing it back at Catra. The two kept on like that, projecting any tiny object in arms reach at each other until Adora threw her arms up in front of her face, admitting defeat and backing down from the battle of grit. 

“Okay, okay, you win.” She said, waving her hands to signal Catra to stop. Her opponent let the rock she had readied fall to the ground between the two of them, putting her hands up to show she had dropped her weapons. She flapped her hand in front of her, Adora understanding it as a signal to continue her horrid tale of Huntara. “Yeah, fine, hold on… yeah, she went to college and we tried to keep up long distance - well I guess I tried more than she did but, you know how it is. I don’t know, I just wanted to surprise her one night at this frat party she was really excited about going to. I used the farm’s truck and drove two hours to get there and when I did… Hah, well then I turned back around and drove another two hours. I broke into Micah’s liquor cabinet that night, I don’t know if he never found out or if he’s just that cool, but it felt like that’s what I was supposed to do to deal with the hurt.” Adora stopped, finally taking the time to look across the gap between them and take in Catra’s expression. Her entire body looked like it was dragging down into the earth as the weight of Adora’s words sat on her. “Now I don’t know why you’re looking at me like that. This all sounds so stupid and selfish compared to what you went through.” 

“We’re not in a competition, Adora. See, this is why we don’t have the emotional capacity for two sad stories, I told you it was a bad idea.” 

“Shut up.” Adora whacked her with her leg again, the both of them exchanging the same smile and laughter from when they were chucking bits of debris at each other. It died down, silence filling the air between them. All Adora could hear was the sound of Swift Wind’s rhythmic breathing in the background as he slept, but even that faded away as Catra and Adora’s eyes lingered on each other’s, a hint of a smile still on their lips. 

She felt an urge, a tug in her gut to do  _ something  _ but whatever that something was had been lost on Adora. She blinked, not breaking eye contact with Catra and let out a sheepish chuckle to which Catra bowed her head to to hide the growing curl of her lips. There was a feeling in the pit of Adora’s stomach like there was a bubble around the two of them keeping the whole world out, all the mean and gross little bits of it, and if she made too rash of a move or spoke too soon, her bubble would burst and let everything flood in to ruin the moment. She took the chance. Adora inched forward, a just barely noticeable adjustment. She didn’t know what her intentions past that were and she wasn’t going to get the chance to find out. 

A song of mooing cows and clucking chickens with some honky tune to back it up pierced the air. Adora covered her face and looked away from Catra, not knowing her ringer had been turned all the way up. She retrieved her phone, Angella’s contact photo lighting up the screen and indicating her incoming call. Catra tilted her head at Adora, the other girl silently apologizing and sliding the screen to answer. 

“Hey—“

“Where are you, young lady?” Angella didn't sound pleased but Adora recognized the twinge of worry in her voice that outweighed the anger. 

“I just went for a walk to get some air, Catra’s with me.” The other girl lifted her eyebrows at the mention of her name. She listened to the rest of the short phone conversation, nodding as Adora told her adopted mother she would be home before it got dark. Catra could hear a stern reprimand coming from the other end but couldn’t make out exactly what the woman was saying. Her tone sounded similar to Miss Weaver’s when she was mad, sending a shiver down Catra’s spine but she felt relief at noticing the gentle smile Adora had as she hummed agreements with the woman on the phone. She gave one last nod and hung the phone up with a contented sigh. “She said she’s excited for dinner tomorrow but if you don’t make sure we’re home before dark, she’ll be serving  _ you  _ up.”

Catra quirked an eyebrow and scoffed, holding a hand to her chest. “I don’t see why you’re my responsibility. Why does she care about you being home before dark anyway, is it a full moon or something? Are you about to turn on me?”

Adora rolled her eyes. “No, they gave me the day off today because I wasn’t feeling good. She’s just worried.” 

Catra chuckled. She twisted herself back around, shifting over one of Adora’s legs, so she was sitting with her back up against the tree again, Adora following suit. Once again, they sat shoulder to shoulder, this time Catra putting her weight into Adora. 

——

Adora nearly forgot about all the stress her day had held early on as she tried to coax Catra onto the back of Swift Wind. She swore, one day she would get the girl over her phobia of horses, as much as she didn’t want to accept that she had one in the first place. 

Their walk down the trail back home was full of new inside jokes and jovial picking at each other. They may have gotten a bit too rowdy at points and aggravated Swift Wind by bumping into him, but he didn’t seem to mind too much besides turning his head and huffing at them once or twice. When they reached Adora’s gravel driveway, they turned to face each other, Adora gripping her steeds reins in one tightly clenched fist. 

“I guess I’ll see you in the morning.” Adora flashed a timid smile and ducked her head down, suddenly wanting to pay more attention to the rock she selected to kick around. When she was satisfied with her tussling of the stone, she looked back up to Catra, one blue eye and one yellow one piercing into her, a grin just a few inches below them. 

“Yeah, in the morning.” Catra seemed to bop in place for a beat before letting out a short, breathy laugh. She turned to walk away, throwing her hand behind her in goodbye. “I’ll text you before I come so I don’t walk into the middle of another sibling brawl.” With that, Catra paced down the road, seeming to be in more of a rush than she usually was to go back to Miss Weaver’s house. 

She stared at the girl in wonder as she trailed down the road but Swift Wind had other plans, tugging his rider down the gravel path as she still clutched onto his reigns. 

“Okay, okay, yes, we’re going to bed, buddy.” She shot a glance over her shoulder at the retreating Catra, catching the girl as she was turning her head to do the same. Adora smiled and gave her a small wave. From the distance, she could see the now small splotch that was Catra lift her hand up and return it before disappearing into Miss Weaver’s house. 


	10. Interlude

Miss Weaver was no fool. She knew Catra was sneaking around with her former ward, letting her sink her twisted roots in. At first, Weaver had been ready to break out the padlock and revert to her old correctional tactics, but she was struck with a better idea. One where she only had to intervene at the most opportune time. 

Adora was a rotten child, mind always wandering, priorities never aligned and the worst to boot, maintained the emotional maturity of a toddler. For over a decade, Miss Weaver watched over the girl and the pack of children that came in with her, feeding them, clothing them, _nurturing_ them. And how did Adora repay her in return? Run away, abandon her. The moment she could, she attacked and stole her other wards right out from under her nose, splitting them up and sending them in different directions. Of course those vile, hillbilly farmers down the road helped along the way, but _Adora_ was the catalyst to it all. 

_A monster of a child._ Miss Weaver took a long sip from her glass, gently placing it down after and using one, long fingernail to scratch at the glass that made up the base. _No, Catra, your punishment will be far more rewarding than anything I could ever think of for her…_

She knew it wouldn’t take long for everything to fall into place. The two girls had grown very close in the few weeks they had known each other. While Catra had spent just as much time with Weaver, she could already tell the girl could never be fit to maintain a stable connection with anyone, much less with a girl as inept as Adora. The two were different mixtures of the same rotten ingredients. Miss Weaver was certain that, in due time, the two would clash in just the right way and consume each other from the inside out like a nasty bug. When the time came, she would be there to help nudge the process along. 

Another long swig of her drink and she downed the rest of it. She reached across the table, grabbing the bottle of Merlot and replenishing her glass, cupping it back between her fingers to take another drink. The glass was almost touching her lips when the side door blew open and slammed shut behind her feral ward, the enclosure full of chickens going wild behind the slab of wood. Catra stood in front of the doorway, fists clenched and a nasty grimace on her face. Miss Weaver wished she could just reach across the room and smack it off but her head had grown lighter and lighter as she spent the evening with the bottle. 

“What?” 

Her tone grated at Weaver’s nerves, bringing her to clench her teeth and grind them across each other as she glared at the girl. She set her glass down on the table, crossed her legs and folded her hands atop her knee. She shook her head, waiting for Catra to continue. 

“What? Go ahead, I know you have some bitchy comment to make.” The quiver in her voice almost went unregistered. 

Miss Weaver chuckled and shook her head, letting it fall momentarily, her dark hair draping around her neck and down her front. She lifted her head back up and straightened her posture. For a moment she thought she saw tears welling up and rolling down Catra’s cheek but her vision had long since doubled and hazed from the alcohol. She tilted her head back just a little and grinned at her ward, letting the corner of her mouth split open to reveal a flash of teeth. 

“I take it the dinner didn’t go well then?” Her words were slurred but they hit their mark. Catra rushed through the kitchen, passing by Miss Weaver in a blur. She sent a dark chuckle after the girl as she disappeared behind her. She downed the entirety of her fresh glass of Merlot in one gulp. 

_Like a sheep being led to the slaughter…_

  
  



	11. Chapter 11

Spanish was a class she could’ve taken in her sleep. Her parents spoke the language exclusively as a young kid and many of her foster families after them spoke it fluently. Ms. Hope, however, didn’t like her sleeping through class, reprimanding her two other times for it that week. Though after seeing her grade on the pop quiz she had handed out the day prior, she seemed to have decided to let it slide for the period. Bow, however, wasn’t as impressed with Catra’s decision. He reached across the aisle and tapped his pencil on her desk. It didn’t have the effect he wanted so he tried again. Catra still didn’t stir. Bow returned his pencil to his desk, reaching back over and nudging the girl’s shoulder. 

“Catra, wake up.” 

“Uh… uh…” Catra turned, shifting so she was facing away from Bow. “Reserving energy.” 

“Okay, I’ll just let you fail then.” He whispered theatrically, crossing his arms and leaning back into his seat. 

Barely moving from her napping position, Catra pulled out her pop quiz, waving it in the general area she thought Bow was in. He yanked it from her flapping hand and peered at the grade in the top right corner, a perfect score. 

“I’m not failing anything.” Catra finally sat up, yanking the paper back from Bow’s hand and shuffling it into her cluttered notebook. She slouched back into her chair, sliding down till she was nearly slipping off the edge. Her feet firm on the linoleum floor kept her in place. She ran her hands through her hair, brushing down any strands that may have fallen loose during her rest. 

“You don’t need to reserve any energy, Catra.” Bow gave her a reaffirming smile. “It’s not like you’re meeting everyone for the first time.”

“Just all at once.” Catra huffed, rolling up her sleeves and picking her pencil up, beginning to scratch out a doodle in the margins of her notes. 

Bow reached out and gently tapped her elbow, sending her another bright smile. “If you can handle the Best Friend Squad, you can handle Brightmoon Farms.” 

“Oh, gross, is that what you call yourselves?” Catra sneered at the titles. “I don’t know which one is worse.”

Bow scoffed and crossed his arms high on his chest. “You’re just mad you can’t think of cool names.”

Ms. Hope shushed the duo. They straightened their backs and put their attention to the front, but Bow took a moment to shoot Catra a triumphant smirk. 

——

Miss Casta’s class is one Catra can always stay awake during. As opposed to her other classes where the topics were boring and the other kids grew into ignoring her existence, her sculpting class allowed her the freedom to just be Catra. Her classmates were mainly fellow outcasts that didn’t dismiss her as harshly, Perfuma and Scorpia among them, and it certainly helped that their teacher was none other than Glimmer’s perky aunt. Catra pretended to be annoyed by it, but she secretly enjoyed the special attention Miss Casta occasionally gave her and the other girls at her table. 

“Are you excited about your date tonight?” Scorpia leaned over the table, pushing her muddled pile of clay to the side. She hadn’t been looking like she knew what she wanted to do with it yet. Catra eyed the clay before looking up at the white haired girl. 

“For the millionth time, Scorpia, it’s _not_ a date.” Catra pressed her hand against her forehead, scrunching her eyelids tight before tossing it out to point towards Scorpia. “I’m just having dinner with my friends’ family.”

“Are you sure?” She leaned back in her chair, grabbing onto the seat of the stool as she scooted it into the table. “Because Glimmer really keeps making it sound like it’s a date.” 

“Mmhhm, she did say that.” Perfuma was entranced by her sculpture, some long, disjointed blob that maybe looked like the beginnings of a cactus. 

“It is not a date.” Catra spoke through gritted teeth, careful to maintain her composure over her hands as she molded her own lump of clay. She had broken it off into varying sized chunks and was forming one, rolling it gently between her two palms. She began to pinch out what would be the start of a cat’s body. “Can we talk about something else?” 

“How about Huntara supposedly is here for the weekend but no one’s seen her since she left school yesterday.” Perfuma broke away from her sculpture and nudged it to the side, suddenly excited by the opportunity to gossip and pointing her finger out in the middle of the table conspiratorially. 

“This school really had to be _that small_ that the chances of me being stuck in a class with the two of you were _this big,_ huh?” Catra propped her elbows on the table and let her head fall onto the back of her hands, clay splattering the front of them. The bell rang, drawing each girl’s attention upwards. 

“Alright, kiddies, put your pieces in the cage, have a fun and safe weekend and I’ll see you all next week!” Miss Casta waved off her students, giving each of them a smile as they walked out the door, eager to get home to their first weekend of the school year. Catra, Perfuma, and Scorpia filed out of the classroom, waving their goodbye to their teacher and falling in line with the flow of students. 

The moment Catra’s feet made contact with the pavement outside the school and the warm rays of sunshine hit her skin, a prickling sensation shot across her entire body. Her stomach began to churn and she was suddenly filled with dread, worry. She stopped in the middle of the sea of students rushing down the front steps of the school, clutching at her stomach. The loose cotton of her shirt crumpled in her hands, her knuckles digging into the soft flesh above her belly button. Her eyes darted around the crowd. Someone from behind her brushed passed her shoulder as they sped down the stairs, nearly sending her flying down the flight of steps. 

“Oh, no you don’t.” Glimmer appeared out of seemingly nowhere, putting one arm out in front of Catra to bar her fall and her free hand on her back to help steady her. “No busting your ass and making Glimmer take you to the ER when you’re supposed to be having a nice dinner with us.” 

“I don’t feel right.” Catra, unfazed by Glimmer’s sudden appearance, clutched the fabric of her shirt tighter, tight enough she could hear individual strands of threads beginning to tear. She tried to pull away from Glimmer but the smaller girl pulled her in closer, rubbing a hand up and down her arm as she guided her down the steps. 

“You’ve been fine all day.” Glimmer huffed as they got to the bottom of the stairs. “You’re probably just nervous.”

The crowd thinned out around them as the last of the students exited the school. Scorpia and Perfuma hadn’t gotten far after losing Catra in her distress. They were just off of the sidewalk and into the parking lot, standing in place as each of them swiveled their heads around looking for their missing friend. Scorpia was the first to spot her with Glimmer, her face instantly brightening up upon locating her friend. She rushed over to them, dragging Perfuma close behind her. Scorpia ran to Catra and lifted her in the air in a tight embrace. 

“Oh I gotcha, I gotcha buddy.” With one more squeeze, she placed Catra back on her feet. “I was so worried about you.”

“Calm down, girl, we were separated for all of thirty seconds.” Catra straightened her now ruffled tee, flattening the wrinkles out in a dramatic huff. _Someone run me over now, please._

“Be nice, Catra, Scorpia was just scared.” Perfuma came up to the other girl's side, gently placing one of her hands on Scorpia’s shoulder and the other a little further down on her arm. She looked up to the buff girl and gave her a soft smile. Catra looked to Glimmer and retched, eliciting a giggle from her. 

“Come on, we need to get going.” Glimmer lightly smacked Catra’s shoulder with the back of her hand. “We’ve gotta help Adora with her chores if we want to eat at a reasonable time.”

“Wait, no one told _me_ that. Guests don’t usually have to work for their dinner.” Catra protested, looking to Scorpia and Perfuma for help. They smirked and shrugged their shoulders, their faces telling Catra that they have had to do the same in the past. 

Her shoulders sank as she groaned. Glimmer took off in front of her, bidding her friends a cheery farewell. Catra dragged herself to follow, dropping into Glimmer’s car with a huff. 

“Just try not to kill me this time at least.” Catra buckled her seatbelt, leaning back in the chair and gripping onto the safety handle above her shoulder. 

——

As they pulled up the gravel driveway, Catra did a quick scan of the farm to see if she could locate Adora. She didn’t catch any sign of her until Glimmer put her SUV in park just in front of the house. Out by the cow’s housing, she could see the small figure of Adora throwing what looked like hay on the other side of the fence closing off the cow’s pasture. 

“Thanks for the ride, Sparkles.” Catra didn’t give Glimmer a second glance as she dove out of the passenger seat starting across the fields to where she spotted her cowgirl. Glimmer shouted something after her but she was too far away, too focused on her task at hand to hear it. 

She never timed herself, but Catra was certain each time she crossed the massive cow pasture she had gotten faster and faster. As she got closer she could tell that it was in fact massive blocks of hay she had been tossing out of her pickup and behind the barn. Soon Catra was close enough to make out the way Adora’s muscles in her back and arms flexed and worked as she continued her repetitive task of grabbing hay, walking a few feet, and tossing it somewhere out of sight. 

Catra had been so distracted by the show she hadn’t noticed the cow mozying her way that she was about to collide with. She bumped shoulders with the beast, the other’s force being much stronger than Catra’s, sending her stumbling to the side, flailing in the air trying to grasp onto the cow for balance. She just barely avoided falling into what she hoped was a puddle of mud. Adora chose that moment to look in her direction, pulling earbuds out as she let out a laugh so boisterous it filled the whole area. 

“Watch out, Catra, you almost got a face full of poop.” She cupped her hands around her mouth to shout her obvious statement. Catra hoped she could see her scowl from the now small distance between them. 

“I don’t know why I keep coming to help you.” Catra closed the distance and hopped the fence separating the pasture from the back of the barn. “All you ever do is clown on me.” 

“Another thing to add to your list of reasons you need to get revenge on me?” She shed the gloves she had been wearing and shoved them into a pocket of her overalls, letting her now exposed hands rest on her hips. 

“You making fun of me has been on the list since day one, cowgirl.” 

Adora chuckled and pointed her thumb over towards the barn. “Come help me with this and we can go in.” She disappeared off into the direction she gestured to. 

Catra huffed before following the girl around the corner of the barn. Behind the building was a gravel patch with a small overhang. Adora was bent over, moving about bales of hay stacked in a pile that was taller than herself. She began to take them and stack them against the back wall, Catra following suit. 

The hay was much, _much_ heavier than she expected it to be, struggling to lift her first bale even a few inches off the ground. She tried to push and drag it over but soon realized the amount of dirt she was kicking up onto it in the process. Catra glared at the bale for a moment before pondering her next plan of action. Adora was having a significantly easier time than she was. Catra watched her as she swiftly lifted the bales and tossed them on her quickly growing wall of hay. She tried to imitate the position Adora had gotten into to lift but immediately stumbled over her bale trying to get it off the ground. 

Off to the side she could hear some stifled noise. Her head snapped over to the source, eyes narrowing to slivers at the girl holding a hand over her lips to hide a smile. Even though she tried, Catra could see the shine in her eyes as she attempted to not laugh. She scoffed, pushing off the hay and standing straight up. 

“If it’s so easy then you do it.” She backed away and held a hand out to showcase her bale of hay. 

“Wha— I _have_ been doing it.” Adora held both her arms out to show off what she had accomplished. 

Catra looked around at her own side, hay still laying all about, not a single one moved more than an inch or so. She huffed and crossed her arms. Avoiding Adora’s eye contact, she walked to her pickup and hopped up to sit on the open tailgate, loose straws of hay poking at her. She looked to Adora, a bemused expression on the other girl’s face. Crossing her ankles and allowing her legs to sway back and forth as they hung, Catra shrugged her shoulders and smirked at her. 

Adora rolled her eyes. “Okay, fine. Watch how a pro does it.” She winked at Catra. 

The gesture sent a flurry through Catra’s stomach. She shoved it down, pushing it as deep as it could go but it still occupied a tiny part of her. Adora chuckled at her and returned to her task, lifting hay and stacking them up. The view from behind was much more impressive than what she could see walking up. Catra was mesmerized by the way Adora’s shoulder blades moved under her tank top, the exposed muscles around them much more chiseled than they appeared to be from afar. She could feel a deep thudding in her chest as she watched Adora work, beads of sweat beginning to roll down her neck and disappear down under her shirt. 

“Okay.” Adora clapped her hands together and turned abruptly. Catra hadn’t realized she had finished. She jerked her attention to Adora’s eyes, her fingers clenching the edge of the tailgate. The flush she felt on her cheeks was burning and when she noticed it she found herself hoping it wasn’t visible. “Let’s go, I need to shower. Bad.” 

——

“This is your room?” Catra threw herself down at the foot of the bed, looking at the neat walls around her. A cork board hung nearby, full of photos with her friends, Micah and Angella, and what looked to be a few cows and horses from around the farm. Other than that, her dresser was full of clutter on top of it, as was what Catra assumed to be a desk. 

“Yeah, what’s wrong with it?” Adora pouted, looking around at her mess of a room. 

“Nothing, just expected more… Horse posters. Boy bands. Something.” 

“I’m not twelve, Catra.” She grabbed a towel from a dresser drawer and unhooked her overalls, kicking them off her legs as they fell to the ground. 

Catra quickly averted her gaze, only catching a glimpse of Adora’s bare thighs under her spandex shorts. She put her attention on her hands clasped in her lap, fiddling her thumbs. She only lifted her head when Adora spoke up again, warning her not to break anything as she showered. Catra looked around, raising an eyebrow at the clutter around her, specifically a stack of books piled over a foot high on top of a stack of papers about half as much. 

“You just have to look at this stuff the wrong way and it’ll topple. No promises, Princess.” Catra let herself fall back onto the bed, arms falling out to her sides and feet still dangling over the end. She heard Adora chortle before disappearing into what she assumed to be a bathroom attached to the room. 

She got a few moments rest before the door burst open, Glimmer and Bow falling into the room and toppling onto the bed on either side of Catra. She groaned as they landed, scrunching her face and throwing her hands up to cover it. 

“That was unfair, Adora left us the hardest chores.” 

“Those horses wouldn’t budge.” Bow’s words were muffled into the bed. 

“Are you sure you guys don’t just suck?” Catra shouldered each of them, neither of them shifting. “I’ve watched Adora put those monsters away in less than ten minutes before.” 

“Catra, if you couldn’t tell yet, me and Bow aren’t meant for this hillbilly bullshit.” Glimmer hardly moved, only turning her head to be nose to nose with Catra. “This,” she waved a hand around. “Is all Adora’s domain.”

“Plus she has it down to some weird science, I don’t get it.” Bow groaned, turning over and propping his head up on his hand. “The animals love her. She doesn’t even need feed to put them away, she just likes giving them a treat.” 

_That’s so fucking cute._ Catra clenched her teeth and mentally smacked herself. _Knock it off, people don’t think about their friends like this._

The door to the bathroom creaked open. Catra lifted her head slightly to look over but she nearly choked. Adora walked out of the steaming room wrapped in a towel, her hair still dry, tied in a knot above her head. 

“I am kinda the best at this whole farming deal, huh?” She turned her back on the group and began rummaging through drawers, pulling a few articles from the first one and a few from two others before disappearing back into the bathroom. 

——

“Catra, it is so nice to finally have you around for dinner.” Angella was going around the table, setting plates down one by one. Catra followed behind her with utensils in hand, placing them down neatly next to each plate. “I’ve been pestering these children about getting you over here for weeks. It’s been such a delight seeing you out and about, helping Adora around the place, you deserve a good dinner.” 

“Thank you, Miss Angella.” She smiled up at the woman as she set down her last set of silverware. Catra’s dinners usually came from the diner during her breaks and typically was a platter of fried foods. Her meals at Miss Weaver’s house were mostly things she could just quickly pull from a cabinet and stow away to her room. Her lunches from Adora have by far been the best meals. 

The others entered the room through the kitchen, each of them carrying some dish and placed them down at the center of the table, all claiming a seat afterwards. Adora and Angella sat to one side of the table while Catra, Glimmer and Bow sat on the other, Micah at the head of the table in between them. 

“Yes, it really is lovely having you with us, we’re gonna have to do this again with the others sometime, maybe make a party of it even.” Micah threw his arms up in the air, excited by his new idea. 

The doorbell rang, Micah’s previously ecstatic expression falling as he looked to the foyer. The occupants of the table all looked around at each other, each of them seeming to mentally tick off who was there, making sure they had everyone. After a moment of that they all looked to each other in confusion, Micah hesitating before rising to his feet and disappearing to the front of the house. Catra shot a glance over the table to Adora. She leaned in to the center, Bow and Glimmer following suit. Angella leaned forward slightly as to not seem too interested in what the kids were conspiring over. 

“You don’t think that’s We—“

“Huntara!” Micah’s exclamation from the other side of the house made the four friends freeze in their seats. They exchanged glances, listening carefully. “It’s so good to see you, it’s been forever since you’ve been around. Come in, come in, we’re just having supper.”

Before anyone else could react, Adora launched out of her seat, sending it toppling over into Angella’s side. She was on the other side of the house in no time, Micah making some sound of surprise before the front door slammed shut, Micah appearing back in the dining room moments later. 

“Teenagers, am I right?” He chuckled to himself, reclaiming his seat. 

The front door opened and closed again. Adora appeared in the dining room with a bouquet of flowers in her arms, slamming them down onto the table next to the doorway. Huntara appeared behind her, waving to the room with a smug grin on her face. 

“Howdy.” She took the empty seat next to Adora, Angella disappearing into the kitchen to get another plate. 

“You know, this is such a coincidence, I was just talking about getting everyone together for a party and here you are!” Micah began loading his plate with thick slices of glazed ham, sticking his hand out for the next plate. 

“Oh, yeah, I’m just picking some stuff up to bring back to my dorm this weekend. Couldn’t resist catching up with these guys, yeah?” She looked over the group, her eyes falling to Catra. “And getting to know this one over here has been a _real_ riot.” 

“Oh, yes, Catra’s wonderful. A very charming young lady.” Micah gave Catra an honest smirk and nodded as he put her plate back down in front of her. 

Catra tightened her jaw, her fists clenching and unclenching underneath the table. She peered over at the intruder. Adora was hunched into herself, her face no longer jovial, but grim as she used her fork to mash her potatoes over her plate. She began to scan the table, accidentally making eye contact with Catra. Quickly looking away, she focused her attention back on her plate, picking up her knife and tearing into her slice of meat. 

Huntara, Micah and Angella broke into a conversation on something or other, Catra was too busy trying to read the expressionless faces of her friends to either side of her. Bow was staring blankly at his food as he ate, chewing slowly. To her right, Glimmer had her elbow propped on the table, holding her head up as she rolled a steamed baby carrot around on her plate. Neither of them lifted their heads or made any sort of indication they wanted to engage in the conversation. In their silence, they ate quick, Micah cracking jokes about how they must’ve really worked up an appetite.

“I need some air.” Glimmer scooted her chair back, wasting no time getting out of it and heading through the living room to the back door. 

Next to Catra, Bow opened and closed his mouth to say something after her, eventually opting to follow Glimmer out of the house. The remaining diners looked to each other, Angella raising an eyebrow to Catra and Adora. Huntara sat, seemingly amused by the situation. 

“What is going on?” Angella spoke with a stern voice, her gaze settling to her adopted daughter. 

“She’s just stressed over some assignment.”

_Oh, you’re such a terrible liar._

Adora's face was twisted in an uncomfortable smile as she let out a half assed chuckle. She cleared her throat and stood. Looking to Catra, she nodded to the door leading from the dinning room to the living room. Catra got the drift and nodded back, wiping her mouth on her napkin before dropping it to her plate and standing up as well. 

“We’ll go make sure she’s okay.” Catra glared at Huntara as they left the room. Just before she made it through the doorway, the other girl also rose from the table and made her way to follow them. 

“Don’t spend too much time out there girls, the mosquitos are still real bad.” Micah called after them, the sounds of clanging dishes over his voice. 

“You know, you’re all starting to make me feel really unwelcome.” Huntara spoke as the door shut behind her. She stood with her hands on her hips and her back pin straight. 

Adora and Glimmer scoffed but Catra beat them to the punch. “You’ve been here twenty minutes and you’re only just now realizing you’re unwelcomed?” She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, moving to stand next to Adora and lean against the deck’s railing. 

Huntara stepped up to her, chest to chest and sneered down at the much shorter girl. Catra didn’t shake, keeping her head level as her eyes shifted up to meet the other girl’s. She pushed off the railing, the action causing Huntara to take a step back but her grimace stayed in place. The others watched, paralyzed by the fear of what could happen next. 

“I’m really not thrilled with the attitude, pipsqueak.” She put her hands up and shoved Catra back a step. Adora jumped to intervene, some warning at the edge of her lips, but Catra held a hand out to stop her. Huntara chuckled and jutted a thumb over to Adora, leering down at Catra. “You think bein’ the big baddie is gonna make her like you?” Hooking an arm around Adora’s neck, she pulled her into her side, letting her hand rest on her shoulder as she traced small circles into it. She smiled down at the girl, some twisted form of affection in her eyes. “It’s not gonna happen, doll face.” 

Adora looked disgusted trying to wriggle out of Huntara’s grip but the girl only pulled her in tighter. Glimmer and Bow’s mouths fell open in shock as they took a step forward but it was the last thing Catra could interpret before her vision went red. 

Before she could process what she was doing, she lunged towards Huntara, wrapping her arms around her waist. She could feel Adora break away from the girls embrace. As she got a good hold on the girl, she tried to drop all her weight to the side to try and make her topple to the ground, making her an easier target. The girl was firm on her feet, she snaked her hands down and tucked them under Catra’s armpits, lifting her an inch off the ground before shoving her back into a post. Her shoulder blade made direct contact with the wood and she nearly stumbled backward down the steps before a hand reached out and grabbed her by the front of her shirt. She saw a flash of her friends’ startled faces before she was pulled forward, lifted off the ground and pulled face to face with Huntara. 

“You’re just an outsider here- and I know what my girl likes.” Huntara’s breath was hot on her face. “Believe in me that it’s certainly not you.” She shoved the girl backward again, this time not grabbing on to her as she collided with the steps, sliding down them on her back as the edge of each step sent a new rush of agony through her system. After an eternity, she came to a rest on the ground below.

Catra’s vision needed a moment to focus after the tumble but she could make out Adora dashing down the steps after her, Huntara following behind her, composed, towering over the other two girls. She felt a gentle hand laying itself on her sternum and another snaking behind her head for support, but Catra was still too clouded by her rage as she spotted Huntara above them. She darted off the ground. Positioning herself as she lunged, her hand flew through the air, closing into a fist before making contact with the larger girl’s jaw, sending her stumbling back a step. Catra shoulders rose, her arms out to her sides ready to go again as the girls took a menacing step towards each other. 

“Stop! _Stop!”_ Adora rose to her feet, putting herself between the two, her chest heaving up and down as she stuck an arm out in either direction. The back door opened, Bow and Glimmer flinching and turning to see Micah and Angella racing out of the house to check on the commotion. 

Everyone stood in silence for a moment. Birds sang their songs above them as they flew through the sky, still lit up by the low hanging sun. All that could be heard other than the sounds of nature was the heaving, rasping breathing of the girls standing off in the back lawn. Huntara’s jaw was beginning to change color as the bruise set in. She groaned, the attention falling to her, as she rubbed at it. 

Catra watched, heart sinking as Adora turned to check on the other girl. She lifted a hand up, touching the tips of her fingers to the spot Catra had punched. She brushed the spot gently and turned the girl’s face to inspect the damage further. She let out a hollow laugh before letting her hand drop, though she let it hang halfway down in midair. In a flash so quick no one around her could process it, she sent her hand soaring, striking Huntara across the face just above the spot where Catra had already landed a hit. The sound echoed around them, only drowned out by Glimmer and Angella gasping in unison, holding a hand to cover their gaping mouths. 

“Leave. _Now.”_ Adora’s back was turned to Catra but she could see the girl's fists clenched tight to her sides as her shoulders hiked up in tension. Taking cautious steps forward, she approached Adora from behind, gently reaching out and resting a hand on her shoulder. The girl whirled around, sending a spike of anxiety though Catra, and smacked her hand away as it fell from her shoulder with force that Catra should’ve expected from the girl who could lift a hundred pounds of hay with ease. “You too. Go.”

Adora’s face was twisted in rage, she held a finger out, pointing out into the distance at Weaver’s house. Catra’s entire being sank. She stepped away, looking to Adora and hoping she would crack that shining smile at her and just tell her she was kidding, that she didn’t have to leave and she was only banishing Huntara away. It never did come though. She shook her head in confusion, sending one last glance to Bow and Glimmer. Bow held a hand up and opened his mouth to say something but the words never spilled from his lips. He let his hand drop back down and he and Glimmer gave Catra a sorry pout. Behind them, Angella held her hands to her chest as Micah embraced her, looking at Catra with disappointment written all over his face. 

She turned. She turned and she ran down the gravel driveway, down the paved road as fast as she could. She had never timed herself before but she was certain she made it back to Miss Weaver’s house faster than she had ever crossed the cow pastures. 

She blew through the door, almost shocked at Miss Weaver sitting at the table, a glass of wine almost meeting her lips but she decided nothing else could surprise her that night. 

“What?” She glared at Weaver, her face contorting as she tried to hold back her overflowing emotions. “What? Go ahead, I know you have some bitchy comment to make.”

Miss Weaver let out a twisted laugh, letting her head fall before lifting it back up and sneering to Catra with a horrid smirk. “I take it the dinner didn’t go well then?”

With tears threatening to fall over, Catra stormed past Miss Weaver, sprinting down the hall as soon as she was out of sight and thudding up the steps to her room. Catra slammed the door shut behind her, not intending to leave it until her shift the next day, maybe not even for that. 


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cw at end

**August 15th**

**[6:25am] Adora:** I’m sorry about last night. Can we talk when you’re up?

**[8:34am] Adora:** You awake?

**[12:52pm] Adora:** Catra?

**[4:22pm] Adora:** You work today right? You wanna come over after? 

**[4:23pm] Adora:** I’ll pick you up. 

**[11:57pm] Adora:** Goodnight, Catra. 

**August 16th**

**[12:37pm] Adora:** Catra, I’m sorry, can we please talk soon?

**August 17th**

**[5:43am] Adora:** The cows miss you :(

**August 19th**

**[1:32am] Adora:** I miss you. 

_ I’m such an asshole.  _ Adora tossed her phone to the side, letting it tumble to the edge of the sheets. She felt like she could just sit there and sink into the bed, hopefully disappearing forever. Maybe she could will it into existence if she thought really hard about it. She scrunched her eyelids and concentrated on disappearing into thin air. Regretfully, when she opened them she was still laying in her pitch black room. 

She shifted in the bed, poking her head over the edge and reaching underneath. She felt around until her hand bumped into what she had been searching for. Hooking her fingers around the old shoe box, glass clanking around inside it as she pulled it out and lifted it onto the bed. She shoved the box underneath there months prior, thinking it would be better to hide the bottle of clear liquor than put it back in the cabinet to be found half empty. 

If there was one thing she learned under Weaver’s care, it was that the best way to deal with life’s problems was to drink them out of existence. She removed the top of the shoebox and pulled the bottle of 1800 out, followed by one of the two lowballs stored away with it. She poured the tequila into the glass, wrapping her legs around the box it was in as she did so. Her stomach turned and she made a face at remembering the taste from the last time she drank it. She poured a small amount and threw it back, trying to send it directly down her mouth without letting it touch her tongue, which she failed at. She winced at the taste and poured more. 

After the second one, she reached across the bed for her phone. It had only been a few minutes since she sent her last message to Catra and the girl hadn’t even responded in days, so she wasn’t certain why she thought maybe she would now, in the middle of a school night. She checked her notifications and put the phone down with a heavy sigh. She took another drink, poured another. 

She was filled with regret from the moment she had sent Catra away that night. While she ran away almost on demand, Huntara had tried to stay longer and win Adora back by trying to make Catra sound like the bad one in the situation. It took a lot of arguing, Glimmer shoving her parents back into the house to spare them from the scene, but Huntara was eventually convinced to leave the property. Adora would’ve gone to check on Catra that moment but she was still too blinded by her anger at the situation and too mentally and physically taxed to go after her. 

Another swig, another pour. 

The dull aching in her chest was resistant but eventually the tequila was able to chase the pain away, if only temporarily. By the time she realized she had hit her limit, the room was already spinning. She looked at the bottle in her hand, nearly empty and stored it away in the shoe box as she blew a raspberry at it. She got out of bed, nearly tumbling to the ground. She took her lowball and stumbled to the bathroom, fiddling around with the knobs of the sink. In her attempt to get running water, she dropped the glass to the floor, shattering it to pieces. 

Looking at the pieces of broken glass, tears began to cloud Adora’s vision. She fell backwards onto the toilet behind her and dropped her head in her hands, sobbing into them as snot dripped down her wrists. Her body heaved and shuddered as she let out her built up hurt and frustration. She turned a hand over and bit down on the back of her wrist, trying to silence the sound of her cries in an attempt to not wake anyone else in the house. She rocked back and forth on the toilet, a larger piece of glass cutting into her big toe as she did so. 

In her drunken haze, Adora tried to collect herself. She let her hand fall to her lap. Taking deep breaths in, she continued to rock on the seat, the swaying doing little to soothe her. Regardless, after a few minutes passed, she was able to settle herself enough to carefully cross over the mess and stumble back into her bed, tears still streaming down her face. Seeing her phone light up in the sheets, she hastily grabbed for it to check. She huffed. Only some game urging her to play again. 

She opened the chain with Catra anyway, readying her hands to try and type. 

**[2:12am] Adora:** I wws a jrkk but ur beeng one too le me apilogozw dammt 

She let the phone fall beside her head. Her eyes lulled shut as the liquor took over her system and sent her to sleep. 

——

_ “Leave us alone, Adora!” Lonnie swiped the tattered doll from her hands, placing it in Rogelio’s own next to the armless action figure he was toting. He gladly accepted it and made them dance together while Kyle tried to attend the ball with his own doll.  _

_ “I just wanted to play.” Adora pouted, her eyes brimming with tears as she looked to Lonnie and then over her shoulder to the other two kids playing with her toy.  _

_ The girl set her fists on her hips and leaned towards Adora. “Then you can go play with the chickens.” She went behind Adora and placed her hands on her back, pushing her through the house and out the side door, Adora struggling against the little girl’s strength. She stumbled forward as she was shoved out the door and landed on her hands and knees.  _

_ Looking up, she froze. Miss Weaver was in the chicken pen, throwing scratch that the birds happily pecked at. She looked up to see the little girl bowled over on the ground, hand frozen in the bucket of feed for a moment. She exited the pen, setting the bucket down on a stump just outside of it and crossed over to tower over the girl.  _

_ “Adora, won’t you get up, my child?” Miss Weaver folded her hands in front of her and leaned over Adora with a sickly smile. In a flash, the woman swooped down, her mouth widening to the size of a big black hole, swallowing Adora whole threatening to take the world around them with her.  _

_ In the pit of the woman’s stomach, Adora stirred. She looked around but all she could see was darkness. Darkness and a pair of yellow and blue eyes. She crawled across the wet floor towards the two glowing orbs. Whiskers brushed her nose, something long, thin, and furry brushing up the side of her face and caressing her neck.  _

_ “Are you lost?” Adora reached forward through the dark until her small arms clasped around the little furry creature, lifting it up and hugging it tight to her chest. Two little ears flicked against her chin as she nuzzled it. “I’m lost too. Maybe we can help each other.” _

——

“Get up, bitch, we’re taking the day off!” 

Adora's bed was turned out from underneath of her, flipped over, sending her flying to the floor as the mattress toppled on top of her. Her head was pounding and it felt like there was something highly toxic sitting in the pit of her stomach, growing in pain and discomfort with each little move she made. The sun was shining bright into her room, ill—

_ The sun is shining bright into my room?!  _ Adora jumped to her feet, sending the bed flying back onto its frame. She hardly registered the group of girls (and Bow) crowding around in her room as she rushed to try and get ready. Mermista threw an arm out to stop her. 

“Oh, no no.” Adora ran right into the girls arm. Mermista pushed back and sent her tumbling down to the bed, the contents of her stomach shifting horribly upon impact. Mermista held her hand up to show the phone she must’ve swiped at some point in the morning. “Don’t worry about the moos, they’ve already been taken care of by your favorite people in the world.”

“You guys snuck in here to steal my phone?” Adora launched forward to grab the device from Mermista, quickly checking to see if there were any new messages from a certain neighbor girl. Her heart sank at the lack of notifications and quickly tried to push the thought from her mind. 

“We didn’t know what your password was to turn your alarms off.” Bow pouted and exchanged a look with Scorpia, who shrugged her shoulders back at him. 

“And honestly we didn’t expect you to stay asleep this long with or without an alarm. Long night of partying?” Glimmer chuckled at her own joke, not realizing the somewhat truth of it. 

Adora reached behind her to pull some pills from her side table. She grabbed a glass of water that she wasn’t positive for how long was sitting around in her room and took a few of the ibuprofen before clapping her hands on her knees, standing from her bed. The queasiness in her stomach shifted as she stood, threatening to spill out of her stomach. 

“Oh no.” She dodged the group, clutching her stomach, and ducked into the bathroom, slamming the door shut behind her. “ _ Fuck!”  _

The group started towards the door but stopped. They could hear her retching on the other side, looking to each other in disgust. The sound eventually calmed down and they could hear the toilet flush, but Adora never exited the bathroom. Instead, they could hear her shifting around before water started running from the tub. 

“Are you okay, Adora?” Perfuma held her hands to her chest and leaned in to press an ear to the door. There was no answer, only what sounded like sniffling. “Adora?”

Mermista approached from the side and shouldered Perfuma out of the way. She threw the door open, ready to barge in until she saw Adora sitting on the edge of the tub. She whirled around and held an arm out in protest. 

“Careful.” She looked down at the floor, Mermista’s eyes following her gaze. There were bloody footprints amongst shattered glass leading to the tub where Adora sat, the water running red against her feet as she delicately picked shards of glass out of her feet. She let them drop and wash down the drain, brushing over one foot when she thought she was done and moving to the next. 

The rest of their group poked their heads through the doorway, investigating the scene. Glimmer took in the mess and was the first to react to it, leaving the room and returning minutes later with a broom, bleach, and rags. She cleaned the mess while Mermista and Perfuma helped Adora bandage her wounds, wrapping her foot with probably too much gauze and bandaging. Scorpia was in the bedroom with Bow, properly fixing the bed Mermista had overturned. 

Glimmer looked from the room to the bathroom and was satisfied that things seemed to be back in order in Adora’s orderless room. She raised an eye to the girl as she limped and fell to the bed, Mermista and Perfuma supporting her along the way. 

“What the hell did you get into?” The answer came to mind before Adora could even register the question. She briskly knelt down and pulled the shoebox from under the bed, throwing the lid off and grabbing the bottle from within to see that there was only a few ounces of the clear liquid still at the bottom. “ _ Adora.”  _

The perpetrator ducked her head in shame. It didn’t take long for her to lift back up and look around at the group accusingly. “Aren’t you supposed to be in school?”

“ _ Ugh _ .” Mermista dragged it out. “We already told you, Adora, don’t you listen? We’re taking the day off.”

“You can’t just take the day off from school. Didn’t you do that last week?” Adora looked to Bow and Scorpia, who averted their gaze in guilt. “And I can’t just take the day off from the farm, I did that last week too.”

“I already talked to Mom and Dad, they understand. Stop stressing over it, Adora.” Glimmer shook her head, returning the alcohol and box to where it was hidden under the bed. She went to Adora’s dresser and picked out a random selection of shorts and t-shirt and threw them to her. “Just come on and get ready.”

——

“She’s been taking the lunches you send with Glimmer, at least.” Bow sat in the back of Glimmer’s SUV with their towels and other supplies for a day on the river. He shifted them around so that he could see Adora in the rear view mirror. 

“Yeah and I’m only allowing one more question about her, we’re almost at the park.” Glimmer stuck her finger in the air in front of Adora’s face, quickly returning it back to the steering wheel. 

Adora looked down at her hands and thought hard on her last query. She turned around to look into the back seat at her friends. She made a face as she considered it one more time. 

“Do you think she’s gonna stay mad at me?” They all looked away. 

“Catra will come around.” Perfuma folded her hands over her heart and smiled. “She still sits with us in Sculpture. She doesn’t talk, but I can feel her energy shifting. I have reason to believe, she misses you too, Adora.” She reached a hand between the front seats and placed it on Adora’s shoulder, giving it a reaffirming squeeze. 

Adora nodded at her and turned her attention back to the road. Glimmer suddenly pulled off and into a gravel parking lot with nothing but a rickety wooden fence separating it from the cliff. Adora got out of the car before anyone else, walking to the fence and peering over the edge. It was maybe twenty feet down to the packed sands of the river, the area seeming to be empty that day. She looked overhead at the few clouds in the sky wondering if a storm was going to come. 

“Come on, Adora.” Scorpia waved a hand over her shoulder, Adora quickly responding to it and marching after the group. 

Perfuma led the way down the steep trail they were all familiar with. Each of them grabbed on to roots and branches on the way down, Bow having the hardest time as he was carrying a small cooler of drinks. They made it down the short trail in a matter of seconds, Perfuma guiding them off to the side where a massive tree had overturned from the cliff edge into the river. She hopped over it, the others choosing to duck through the branches. When they reached their usual spot, they threw out their towels and took a seat in a circle, Bow and Scorpia sitting just a little outside of the rotation. Perfuma retrieved something from her bag, lighting it before taking a few inhales and handing it to Adora who did the same, passing to Glimmer. 

“I mean am I really wrong?” Adora threw her hands out into the center of the circle. “They were fighting in our yard and it needed to stop, right?”

“No, you’re right.” Bow nodded his head, closing his eyes with a hum. 

“But Catra’s been so sad.” Scorpia pouted at her feet before scanning the eyes of her friends. 

“Well if  _ Catra  _ is so sad, she could respond to one of my twenty million texts.” She huffed and threw her legs out in front of her. Scorpia recoiled from the statement and Adora shot her an apologetic glance. 

“Didn’t we say we would stop talking about this?” Mermista exhaled a puff of smoke into her friends’ faces as she spoke. “If you want to talk to her so bad, she works after school tonight, why don’t you go there and make her talk to you?” 

Adora sputtered, shooting her eyes around the group, but the others seemed to agree with Mermista, nodding at her and looking to Adora. The joint came back around to her, now barely just an ember remaining. She tossed it out into the water as Mermista lit another. 

“I can’t start a scene when she’s at work—“ Adora began to argue but Glimmer cut her off, waving a hand around in front of herself. 

“Then you do it after work.” The newly lit joint came to her, she took a quick hit before continuing. “The place closes at nine. We can wait around the corner in case it doesn’t go well and you wait outside for her to get off. It’s a perfect plan.” 

_ Catra wasn’t kidding when she said my friends can’t handle their ganja.  _ Adora rolled her eyes at the plan but accepted it as her best option. “And you guys will stick around if it doesn’t turn out good?” They all gave her gentle smiles and solemn nods. She nodded back at them and clenched her jaw, crossing her legs and resting her fists on each knee. “Okay, but we need a better plan.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cw: alcohol use, substance use, blood


	13. Chapter 13

Catra knew something was up by the time she got to History and Mermista hadn’t been in her seat just as Glimmer hadn’t been for English. She looked at the last message from Adora for the Nth time that morning, a jumble of letters that Catra could hardly interpret. She sighed, locking her phone and putting it back in her bag. She leaned back in her chair and winced, her back still aching from her tumble down the stairs a few days prior. The bruising had gone down, but the pain remained, slowly fading away as the days past. The same couldn’t be said for the dull aching in her chest. 

It wasn’t that she didn’t want to message Adora back, not that she didn’t want to make up, it was just…

_I’m awful at this._ She let her head fall to her desk with a thud and groan. It was odd not having Mermista right next to her to say “same” but she wallowed in her emotions anyway, making up for the lack of her just as generally unamused friend. She pulled her phone out of her bag again and opened the chain between Adora, staring at the texts she had sent over the past few days. _How do you even do this? How are you supposed to fuck something up and then go back and apologize? Is that even allowed?_ She typed something out before deleting it and trying again, only to delete that attempt too. 

“Catra, is there something on your phone you would like to share with the class?” Mr. Hordak looked over his glasses at the girl, crossing his arms with his lecture notes still in one hand. Catra stared at him with a scowl, tucking her phone back into her bag. “That’s what I thought. If I see it again I’m taking it.”

_Jackoff. I’m trying to make up with my cowgirl, can’t I do that?_ She sat on the thought for a moment. _No I can’t, can I?_

This was what Catra was best at. Messing things up and having to move on to the next thing, a vicious cycle. Things were over between her and Adora, she just knew it. All she had been able to think about, over and over, was the look on Adora’s face when she shoved her away to go for Huntara. It was something that was just a blur in the moment but a vivid image that haunted her hindsight. 

The bell for lunch rang. She waited for the room to clear a bit before departing, preferring to have some space as opposed to being crammed into the hallway like a sardine. That was one of the few upsides of such a small school was it never took long for the congested hallways to thin out. She stood to leave but paused at a throat clearing at the head of the room. Mr. Hordak was sitting at his desk, looking over the assignments that had been due that day. He paused from his task and peered up at Catra, giving her a single nod, cueing her to approach him. She looked around and crossed the room, pulling a chair from an empty desk to his own. 

“Miss Catra, you’ve been becoming increasingly distracted ever since returning from the weekend.” He took his glasses off, folding them up and setting them on the table. He rubbed his face with both hands and made some groaning sound before proceeding. “You’re bright enough and it would be a shame to see that go to waste. If it keeps up, I’m going to have to refer you to the school counselor.”

Catra’s eyes narrowed at that. She scoffed “I’m not distracted and I don’t need the counselor.” She abruptly stood from her chair and stared down at the man, Mr. Hordak not seeming to be phased by the action as he rested his head in a hand and tilted it up at her. 

“It’s only in your best inter—“

“Yep, okay.” She swiftly turned on her feet, throwing a hand over her shoulder in goodbye. Mr. Hordak tried to call something after her but she was already out the door and down the hall. 

——

“It doesn’t sound like too bad of an idea, Catra.” Miss Casta rolled a piece of clay out into a long, thin rod. “Mara is a nice young woman, I think you’d enjoy having a little chat with her.” 

“ _Please,_ I don’t need therapy.” Catra scoffed at the woman. “So I guess you heard about the fight too, then?” She grabbed masking tape and began to section off parts of her cat figurine, creating a pattern for her to start working with her selected glazes. 

Casta took her length of clay and began to coil it, coming up on the edges of her base and coiling a wall upwards. “Oh, of course I have. You think my big brother can keep his mouth shut about anything that goes on at that farm? Phone calls with him last half the day and don’t get me _started_ on running into him at the grocery store.” She took a deep breath and collected herself. “So, yes, I know all the juicy details. And in my opinion, the bitch had it coming.” She leaned in across the table and whispered the last part. 

“You know what happened between her and Adora?” Catra raised an eyebrow at her teacher, who quirked her lips and nodded. 

“Being the cool aunt has its perks, you know. Who do you think she got to replace the bottle of tequila she broke into?” Miss Casta chuckled at the memory, finishing her coiled bowl, the third one she had done in that class period. She left for a moment to put her piece in the cage next to the others and came back to the table, folding her hands on the surface as she sat down. 

“So then do you know where the hell they all are today?” Catra held her hands out at the side of the table Scorpia and Perfuma usually sat. Bow had also been absent from Spanish. 

“Worried about your friends?” Miss Casta giggled at Catra’s glare. “They took the day off to take Adora out.” 

_Oh._ Catra looked down to her figurine as her jaw clenched. She reached for her first bowl of glaze, a color that would dry into an orange but looked more brown in its current stage. Carefully checking her taping job, she took an oversized pair of tweezers and dunked her cat into the glaze, releasing it for a moment to sit before removing it. She set it down to dry on a folded up piece of newspaper. Looking to her teacher, she huffed and crossed her arms, slouching on her stool even though the action still pained her. 

She thought about what Adora had been doing the past few days. It had only been a month since she moved in with Weaver but it was weird not spending her free time with the girl down the road. She missed it. 

“Do you think I can fix this?”

The last bell of the day rang. Miss Casta tossed her usual goodbye over her shoulder as the class bled out of the room and snapped her attention back to Catra. “Come with me, why don’t we try to catch Mara before she leaves for the day?” She gently placed a hand on top of Catra’s own. 

Catra stared at the contact for a moment before looking back at her teacher. She tugged her hand back and began packing her things away into her bag, moving to put her figurine in the cage before returning to the table to retrieve her bag. 

“That sounds great and all, but I have to get to work today. Rain check.” She shot Miss Casta a finger gun before waving her goodbye and ducking out of the classroom, the hall still peppered with a few groups of students crowded around lockers. 

She found her own locker and twisted the dial a few times until it unlatched and swung open. Catra stared at the bag of clothes inside, wondering if her stupid job was worth all the energy she exerted on it. With a groan, she grabbed the bag from her locker and slammed it shut. _Less time I have to spend with Weaver._

——

“Hey Catra.” The gruff voice called out to her from the kitchen. “Take this to table six.” 

Catra sat at the counter with a nearly empty plate in front of her, only a few fries left, as she scrolled through her phone. Adora would’ve been proud of her, she went for a burger instead of chicken tenders that night. Still greasy, but not fryer food. Catra peered up at the cook handing a ranch cup through the order window, looking to her expectantly. When she didn’t say anything after a moment, he shook the cup at her and feigned throwing it, trying to get her ready to catch it. 

“On my break. Do it yourself, Rob.” She blinked at the man and looked back down at her phone. She swiped up on the screen every few minutes so people would think she was scrolling social media, but in all actuality she had still been staring at Adora’s texts. Not a single message since the one telling her she missed her and the gargled mess after it. She put her phone face down on the counter and sighed. Her head fell to her hand, Catra ready to give up and sink into the counter to fade out of existence. 

_She’s done with me._

“Rough day?” The sweaty cook took the stool next to her, wiping his hands down his apron. 

“Something like that.” Catra shifted, only enough to meet his eye contact. 

“Wanna talk to ol’ Robbo about it, sweetheart?” He smiled at her and put a hand to his heart, closing his eyes and giving her a short nod. 

Catra straightened up and leaned back in her chair. She chewed on her words for a moment, turning them over in her head to make sure she even wanted to say anything at all. At this point, she was fed up with people trying to get her to talk, but at the same time she felt like she was ready to explode. She looked at the cook. With all the frustration she had built up since that dreadful dinner, she let out a deep, long groan, throwing her head down. 

“Have you ever fucked up?”

Rob let out a laugh so loud, every diner turned their head to look at him. He waved to the few people in the restaurant, still chuckling, and they returned to their meals. He turned back to Catra and clapped her on the shoulder. 

“Kid, I work at the diner in the town I grew up in.” He tilted his head down and leaned forward, another wheezing chuckle as he smiled bright at her. “ _Yeah_ , I’d say I’ve fucked up once or twice in my life.” 

Catra rolled her eyes but deflated into her seat. The cook sighed, scooting his chair closer and resting a big hand on her shoulder. 

“Everyone does though, hon. You just grit your teeth and work through it. That’s what you always have to remember- you can’t go backwards, only forward. You do that and everything will work out, it just might not be the way you intended it to.” He shrugged his shoulders, letting his hand drop back to his lap. “But so is life, honey. It’s the gods’ world and we’re just living in it.”

Catra had never known the man to be wise. In the short time she had been working at the diner, she had only known him to be a chain smoking wise ass. Tonight, though, the words he spoke sat with her, sinking into her veins. She nodded at him, jutting her lower lip out as she looked away to think on it. 

“You know,” A gentle smile touched Catra’s lips. “I think that’s actually the best advice I’ve gotten so far.”

“Anything for you, sweetheart.” Rob touched his heart and smiled at her again. He looked around the dining room at the last few tables remaining. “We only got twenty minutes, why don’t you get these people tabbed out and we’ll get you on your way home, I’ll handle closing.” 

He didn’t have to say another word. Catra was out of her chair in a flash, breaking back into her shift and printing tickets from the console. There were only two tables so it would be fast work for her. Rob sat at the counter, chortling at the girl’s newfound energy. When she was ready, he made his way around the counter and took her tickets. It was a slow night, tip out was quick and Catra was ready to leave within ten minutes. 

“Take it easy, you better be perkier the next time I see you.” Rob waved her off as she exited, the bell tingling above her head. She waved back and bid him a farewell. 

The nights were getting cooler. Catra could feel it as the gentle breeze hit her skin, fresh air filling her lungs. She pulled her phone from her bag one more time to see if there were any new messages. _Nothing._ With a sigh, she shoved the device in her pocket and turned to start her walk home. 

“Catra?”

She froze. Her heart skipped a beat. Catra took a deep breath in and turned on her feet. 

And there she was. 

Adora tilted her head, a nervous smile on her lips as she held a hand up tentatively. She waggled her fingers in some sort of greeting and took a step forward. 

“Can we talk?” 

Catra’s mind had shifted into overload. Her body began to go numb. All of her nerve endings suddenly felt like they were standing two feet behind her, watching her fleshy body stand in the middle of the sidewalk and gawk. She took a hesitant step forward, not entirely aware of her actions. 

“Oh, um, is this a bad idea?” Adora, like Catra once had, took a step away from her advance. She looked like she was deeply considering something for a beat before starting to turn away. “Yeah, this is a bad idea, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have popped up like this, I’m just gonna—“

“Wait.” Catra held a hand out to her. She was shocked by her own gesture but stuck with it anyway. The bell tingled above the diner’s entrance, stealing their attention. A couple left the building, laughing and joking as they walked past them and disappeared down the sidewalk. Catra eyed her companion. “Do you wanna walk with me?” 

——

They had been walking for a time in complete silence. Catra was following her path home by muscle memory now, not paying any attention to her surroundings. It would be a long, long walk if neither of them spoke up soon. Adora seemed to feel the same way. She cleared her throat. 

“I’m sorry I didn't get rid of her sooner.” Nothing. She twisted her hands together. “I didn’t invite her. If that’s… what you thought.” 

Catra shoved her fists in her pockets, holding her gaze to the ground. Adora tried to lean over and steal her attention but the other girl was too focused at the pebbles she had been kicking around on the sidewalk. After a long while she finally huffed, stopped walking and turned to Adora. 

“I don’t know what to do here.” _There it is._ Catra kicked at nothing on the ground and twisted her face, considering how she wanted to let this spill. She threw her head back and groaned. When she leveled with Adora again, the other girl was watching her patiently, waiting for her to go on. Her face was soft and kind in the dimly lit streets. “I’ve never had a... _friend_ to worry about messing things up with. In the past, if this happened, I would’ve just moved on, but I can’t do that with you. I don’t know, I just don’t know what to do here.” She hugged herself, squeezing her elbows. 

“There’s not really a lot you have to do.” Adora chuckled. Catra was stunned but she went with it, letting her arms drop to her sides. “I was the one who was a jerk, it wasn’t your fault. I shouldn’t have gotten mad at you. More importantly, I should’ve made Huntara leave the moment she got there.”

Catra nodded. “Either way. I shouldn’t have started a fight in your backyard.” 

“You didn’t start it. It was all her and I should’ve stopped it sooner. I’m sorry, Catra.” Catra wasn’t sure but it looked like the other girl’s eyes were hazing over with tears as her speech sped up, a nervous quirk in her voice. “She just seemed like she was trying to be nice at the door and then she sat down and it all went to shit. I’m sorry, I should’ve seen through it, I’m so—“

“You’re apologizing too much.” Catra held a hand up to hush her. Adora’s face softened as the stress left her body. She took a sharp breath in and slowly let it back out. 

“None of that stuff she said was true. You’re not an outsider and…” Adora took a step forward. She clasped her hands down in front of her and looked to the ground between their feet. “I like you just the way you are.”

The pain that clouded Catra’s chest began to dissipate as her heartbeat returned to the usual thudding rhythm it fell into when she was near Adora. Over the sound of it beating in her hears, she could hardly process the other girls words. She was entranced by the girl’s anxious smile, the way her hands rung around each other, and how she brushed the asphalt at her feet with the tip of her shoe. She was about to clear her throat to speak but the words were stolen from her as she noticed something in the distance. 

A pair of headlights shined over Adora’s shoulder, casting a shadow against their bodies and blinding Catra. She held a hand up to block the light, now able to make out the steel grey SUV rolling by them, far below the speed limit. As the car drove by she could make out the faces of Adora’s friends squished up against the window, watching their exchange as the engine revved. Glimmer hastened her speed and pulled away, the group pressed against the window moving about the car to try and keep eyes on them for as long as possible before disappearing down the road.

“What the hell was that?” Catra looked to Adora and jutted a thumb out in the direction the car had driven off in. Adora shrugged her shoulders and let out a nervous chuckle, her head tilting to the side, her ponytail falling over with it. 

“Listen, there was a 50/50 chance you were gonna tell me to go screw myself at the diner. I’m sure you wouldn’t have wanted to awkwardly walk home with me after that.” Adora shrugged again and elbowed Catra’s side, chuckling as she continued their walk. 

“It’s still an hour’s walk back!” Catra threw her hands up and stomped after her. “Why wouldn’t you say something sooner? We could’ve rode home with them.” 

“Come on, Catra, you’ve spent the past like five days ignoring me, you can walk with me for an hour.” Adora stopped in her tracks and turned halfway to Catra, holding a hand out. 

Catra’s breath caught in her throat. The last of the street lights on their walk out of town illuminated Adora from behind, making her blonde hair look like it was glowing in the night. She aimed a gentle smile to Catra and bopped her hand in the air. She didn’t need to ask a third time, Catra took it without another thought, falling into tug Adora gave her and came crashing into her side. Adora threw an arm over her shoulder and guided their walk out of the streetlight. 

“I missed you, pal.” She gave Catra a tight, one armed squeeze, not aware of the slight falter she sent through the other girl. Catra smiled anyway and leaned into Adora’s side, crossing her arms in front of her chest. 

“I missed you too, I guess.” She hummed.

_Everything will work out, it just might not be the way you intended it to._ Catra smiled at the thought, closing her eyes to soak in the moment, trusting Adora to not guide her into a tree. 

——

Catra hadn’t been exaggerating about how much time was left to their walk. By the time they could see Miss Weaver’s house they were exhausted. Anyone watching them wouldn’t have been able to tell, however, by the childlike giggles they exchanged as they recounted their past few days to each other. 

“Late night, girls?” The dark tone drifted through the night’s air to reach them. 

Their laughter died down in their throats as they froze in place, a chill crawling down both girls’ backs. Miss Weaver sat in a rocking chair on her deck, a glass of wine in her hand as she watched over a few of her free roaming chickens. She stuck a hand into a bag of feed and threw it out to them, a small grin on her lips. She took a drink from her glass and stood, setting it down on the deck railing. 

“Come inside, now, Catra, you have school in the morning.” She waved a hand over, bidding her to come. 

Catra looked to Adora and gave her a sorry expression. She hoped her intentions translated to the other girl as she waved a goodbye and disappeared into the house behind Weaver. Adora was left alone on the front lawn with her old foster mother. She gritted her teeth and clenched her fists as she stared up the steps at her, her dark hair framing her face as her face split into a wicked smile. The woman let out a twisted chuckle and slowly took down the stairs, step by step. 

“You are a tricky one, hmm?” Miss Weaver reached her and bent over, grabbing Adora face and cradling it in her hand, bringing her closer as she tried to pull away. She split her lips in a grimace, a quick flash of her teeth as she let out a breathy chuckle. “In due time, my child. Run along now.” 

Releasing her face from her clammy grasp, Adora stumbled away. She glared at the woman, wishing she could think of something to say but she was too filled with anger and hatred. She huffed and pushed past her old caretaker. 

Catra watched the scene from her bedroom window, wondering what Miss Weaver was saying. Whatever it was, it seemed to make Adora pretty angry as she stormed down the road, disappearing into a speck by the time she got to her own house. The front door slammed shut from downstairs, making Catra wince. She waited for the sounds of Miss Weaver’s footsteps to settle down somewhere before pulling out her phone. 

**[10:52pm] Catra:** sorry about her.. see u in the morning?   
  


She waited a moment for the device to vibrate in her hand. 

**  
[10:53pm] Adora:** Of course :)


	14. Chapter 14

“I’m sorry, you want me to go to a _what_ now?” Catra held a fry in midair, ketchup dropping down onto her plate. She put it down and pushed the dish away. “Please don’t make me regret making up with you, it’s only been a few days.”

Adora pouted from her side of the booth, looking down at her own food in front of her. From under the table, she could feel a foot gently nudge her own as Catra sighed, crossing her arms and sliding down into her seat. 

“Come on, I’m just kidding. I’ll go to your silly little rodeo.” Catra gave her a small smile before turning it back into a joking sneer. 

“Definitely not silly, Catra. If you’re scared of horses now, just wait until you see these guys get thrown off of them.” Bow ribbed her, eliciting a scowl from Catra. He backed off and put his hands up in surrender, but still grinned at her as he sat them down. 

“Well, to be fair, a portion of it will be at least a little silly.” Glimmer threw her napkin down on her plate and stacked it on top of Catra’s. 

Catra twitched her nose in a way that could’ve been mistaken as just a sniff, but Adora had picked up on the gesture. It seemed the more time she spent with the girl the more she was able to recognize her little quirks, like her little sniff when something only slightly agitated her but not enough for her to say anything about it. Catra pulled the lazily stacked plates toward her and began organizing the dishes from the trash, shifting the leftover food all on to one plate and stacking the two neatly, setting the napkins and utensils on top. Adora grinned at the little action, a twinge only Catra caught as she pushed the mess back out of her way. Catra dropped her head and smiled at the table for a moment before switching her focus to Glimmer and Bow. 

“What's supposed to be so silly about it?” Catra leaned forward, resting her elbows on the table and propping her chin in her hand. Bow clapped her on the back and gave a short, one note laugh. 

“Mermista’s… Boyfriend? Or _boy friend?”_ Bow looked to Adora and Catra in uncertainty but they shrugged their shoulders at him, not entirely sure either. “I don’t know, Sea Hawk is his name. He’s supposed to be competing in the final event.”

“Sea Hawk?” Adora knew Catra was going to get a kick out of that. She laughed at the name, throwing her head back slightly and feigned wiping a tear away. “And the reason I haven’t met this guy is because he’s been shunned out of the public eye, right?” 

The other three exchanged glances before looking back to Catra. 

“Kind of?” Adora raised her shoulders in an unsure shrug. “He’s banned from most public places for… public disturbances, we’ll say. But that’s besides the point, it’s the last rodeo for a while so you have to come, everyone’s gonna be there.” 

“Yeah, yeah, I already said I’d come, didn’t I?” Catra waved a hand in the air, dismissing them. 

The group continued on, poking fun at each other - mainly at Catra’s horsephobia - as Bow and Adora finished their meals. They paid their tabs and left the diner, Catra disappearing into the kitchen for a moment to say bye to a cook. The girl pretended she despised every moment working at the shoddy little diner, but Adora knew there were some small things she secretly liked about the place, like the select few coworkers she got along with. Soon, she popped back out of the kitchen, smiling and waving at someone inside. The young looking guy poked his head out behind Catra as she made her way back to the group, sending a quick whistle after her. She threw a glare over her shoulder but otherwise ignored her coworker. 

“Had to go tell your boyfriend you were leaving?” Adora grinned as she jutted Catra’s side with her elbow, the bell ringing above their heads on their way out. 

“Ew, Cory?” Adora hadn’t realized the tightening in her chest until it released at the sound of Catra’s disgust at her insinuation. “Definitely not, all these cooks just get a little too chummy around here.” 

“Even if that weren’t the case, she spends all of her free time with us, Adora. I think we’d know if she had a boyfriend.” She paused as her fingers hooked around the handle of her car door. She quirked an eyebrow over the hood at Catra and smirked. “Or girlfriend.” 

Glimmer shot a glance to Adora and ducked into her car. Her face grew hot as she dropped into the passenger seat herself. She tried to catch a glimpse of Catra to see if she reacted to the statement at all, but the way the mirror was positioned she could only see the corner of her head. Adora tapped her fingers on the center console, wondering why the girl hadn’t returned Glimmer’s comment with a snide remark and why exactly she cared so much if she had or not. Eventually, she decided she needed to pry. Resting the hand she had been using to drum on the center console, she put her weight down on her elbow and twisted her upper half around to face Catra. 

For a moment, she was stunned by the view she was rewarded when she turned around. Catra had her elbow propped up on the window sill, her head rested on her hand, turned to face out the window. Her eyes were closed, a soft smile lit up her face as she allowed the wind to rush through her window, whipping her long hair around in a wild storm. Her face scrunched up as a lock of hair blew across, tickling her nose. She tried to blow the offending strand away, swiping it back and behind her ear when she came into difficulties with her first attempt. Catra gently opened her eyes after getting herself situated, turning to look at Adora and widening her eyes when their gazes met. 

“Yes?”

Adora forgot she had been staring, suddenly feeling the urge to shrink into herself as Catra raised an eyebrow at her, Bow following suit beside her. The girl chuckled after a moment and cocked her head at Adora to add to her facial expression. 

“Oh, um…” Adora turned back around in her seat. Glimmer’s side eye as she settled in didn’t go undetected. At a loss for words, she gulped, feeling it travel all the way down her dry throat. “Um… well, would you tell us? If you were dating someone?” 

Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Glimmer stifling a laugh and shaking her head. _Thanks, Glim, it’s not like I don’t already realize how awkward that was._ Catra’s laugh burst out from the back seat and only then did Adora release the breath she didn’t know she was holding.

“I mean, yeah, I guess, maybe.” Catra made a sound before growing silent in the backseat. 

Adora turned, only slightly. Just enough to see Catra messing with her fingernails. As she moved to turn forward again, she caught the other girl flashing a glance up at her before quickly averting it back out the window, settling into the original position she had been in with the wind rushing through her hair. 

——

“So when is this thing and what’s this Sea Hawk guy supposed to be doing?” Catra stopped in the middle of the field. Adora walked on for a moment, not noticing that she had halted to stare at a cow a few feet away from her. She chuckled to herself before crossing back over to her. 

“Do you think that’s the one that tried to push you into poop?” The other girl startled as Adora suddenly whispered into her ear. By her expression, Adora could tell she didn’t find the inquiry amusing. She had to hold back a giggle as she answered Catra’s initial questions. “Tomorrow night and he’s bull riding. When he told us he was going to be in the rodeo, I thought he meant he was gonna be one of those people that distracts the bull if the rider gets tossed off. You’ll get it when you meet him, he’d totally be more fit for that.” 

“With a name like Sea Hawk, I don’t think I have to meet him to understand.” Catra tore her attention away from the cow and fell in line with Adora’s strides. “And the bulls are going to be, like, as big as your cows?”

“Hmm, kind of. They’re more muscle. These girls are pretty much 50% chub.” Adora smiled at one of the cows and scratched behind its ear as they passed by it. “Yes, you are 50% chub, aren’t you?”

“That’s horrifying.” Catra rolled her eyes at the other girl’s show of affection for the cow, but her face shifted to a grin. She shook her head and chuckled. “I can’t believe you guys do that for fun around here.” 

“Yeah, no. If I know Sea Hawk, he’s not doing it for fun, just to impress Mermista.” Adora scoffed as she approached the wooden doors of the barn and swung them open. 

The herd slowly started to come over as the door’s squeaking rang through the fields. She made her way to the back of the barn and cracked open the feed bin, bending over into it and using one arm to prop it open as she grabbed for her bucket. Adora felt the weight of the lid release from her grasp. She looked over and came face to face with Catra’s hips as she stood beside her, holding the container open. The girl looked down at her and rolled her eyes, promptly looking away and feigning interest in the cows. Moments later Adora came out of the bin with a bucket of feed. 

“Here.” She pushed the bucket into Catra’s chest. “Since you seem to be in such a helping mood.”

“What?” Catra sputtered, looking at the pail of feed she now obtained. “I don’t know how to do this, don’t they have names? An—and pens they go into?” 

Adora scoffed. She couldn’t understand why she always seemed eager to help but then got so nervous when it came to actually being near the animals. Whatever the reason, she was determined to break her of it. Looking out through the open barn doors, she watched the herd of cows as they began to pile in, gravitating towards Catra and her pail. Adora clapped a hand over her mouth as one of the cows threatened to knock the feed out of her hands whilst giving Catra a good sniff. She backed away from the animal, nearly stepping on Adora’s feet. She held a hand up and pressed it firm against the small of her back, supporting Catra as she stumbled back into her. 

“Adora, do something please, make them stop.” She tried to hold the bucket up and away from the cow, leaning further back against Adora’s hand, nearly pressing her back into her chest. 

She was fixated by their proximity for a moment, distracted as she looked down at her hand and the way the fabric of Catra’s shirt wrinkled up around it as she leaned back. She snapped back to attention when Catra called her name again, this time much more distressed. She let the hand she had been using to keep the other girl from falling back into her slide over to her waist as she reached around with her other arm to pull the bucket of feed out of her hand. In one swift movement, she switched places with Catra, pushing her back behind her and putting herself between Catra and the cows. 

Adora shook the bucket of feed and threw her arms in the air, fanning them forward. The herd responded to the act and moved back, still focused on the bucket swinging around in her hand. When they got a distance aways, she shot a grin over her shoulder to Catra and began guiding them into their stalls. 

“It doesn’t matter which stall they go in, really, but they have preferences and they’ll usually go right to their regular one.” Adora also pointed out to Catra where to put the scoop of feed, but she was certain she couldn’t see from the corner she huddled herself away into. She let a light chuckle escape her lips and made quick work of putting the rest of the herd away. 

When she was done with the last of them, Adora leaned against the door of the final stall and chewed her lip as she looked across the barn to Catra. The other girl huffed and crossed her arms, moving from her hiding corner to rest against the feed bin. Adora pushed off the stall and sidled up next to her, brushing shoulders as she let her weight fall onto the bin. 

“Don’t look at me that way. I know you make it look easy, okay.” Catra held her hands up in mock defeat. “Miss Cow Whisperer over here, still don’t know why I even try.”

“You just like spending time with me.” Adora beamed at her, gently nudging her shoulder into Catra’s

“Ew, yeah right.” Her tone was different than the way she had spoken about her coworker, more lighthearted than grossed out. 

Catra laughed at her own joke. Adora had at first too, but the joy died down in her throat when she cracked her eyes open for a moment. Her gaze fell to Catra’s hand, resting dangerously close to her own on top of the bin. Her eyes traced up her friend’s arm, across the small bit of collar bone poking out of her neckline, up her thin neck along where her laugh bounced up and down in her throat and settling her gaze on the sharp edges of her jaw. Adora’s breath caught in her throat as she realized she was accidentally catching a glimpse of something she was sure no mere mortal should have ever had the privilege to see. 

The setting sun cast an orange glow through the barn doors, spilling over the two girls as they sat in the back of the building. Silence came over them as Adora’s eyes fell back down to Catra’s hand. Blood began to rush in her ears as she nervously bit at the edge of her lip. She drummed her fingers once against the metal top of the bin and let her hand slip closer to Catra’s just by a micrometer. Despite how minuscule the action had been, it still attracted the other girl’s attention. Adora froze, Catra’s eyes melting into her own. She tried to give her most innocent grin, but Catra just stared blankly at her, her mouth hanging ever so slightly agape. The dimming sunlight danced off her tanned skin as she let out a breathy chuckle, ducking her head away to hide the nervous smile tugging at the corners of her lips. 

Too fast for Adora to anticipate, too fast for her heart to handle, Catra pushed off of the bin, shattering the tension between them. She stumbled over her own feet as she took a step towards the barn's exit and turned to Adora with a sheepish grin on her face. 

“I, uh…” Catra waved a hand in the air, grasping for some reason to flee. “I forgot I have an assignment to work on, I’ll see you tomorrow, Adora!” 

Catra hurried out of the barn, colliding with the threshold as she rushed out but she didn’t let it cause her to falter. Adora opened her mouth to shout something after her, but the words shrunk inside of her chest with her fallen heart. She let her hand fall down to the bin with a thud as she watched Catra disappear across the fields. 

——

“ _Adora!”_ Glimmer squeezed the pillow she was resting her chin on, her legs kicking over the edge of the bed. “You just let her walk away? _Seriously?”_

“Your life is turning into one of those crazy soap operas.” Bow clutched his own pillow to his chest, excitedly wiggling against Glimmer’s side. 

“Guys, really, you’re not being helpful.” Adora groaned and threw herself back into the welcoming comfort of her bed. “What is going on? Why do I feel like this?”

“Okay, we need a Best Friend Squad real talk time.” Glimmer huffed, sitting up from her belly down position. She placed her pillow in her lap and crossed her arms on top of it. She took a deep breath in and exhaled, clapping her hands together and setting Adora with a stern look. “Do you like this girl or not?” 

“Of course I like her, I wouldn’t be friends with her if I didn’t.” Adora propped herself up on her arms, looking up at Glimmer with a pout. 

“ _No_ , Adora.” Bow threw his hands in his face. Him and Glimmer groaned in unison. “Do you _like-_ like her?” 

The question gave her pause. Glimmer and Adora had argued over it once but since then, Adora had never really thought about it, shoving it away into the depths of her memory like a few of the other events that followed that argument. She stared out into the nothingness between her two friends, letting her eyes drift shut as she thought on her response. 

Huntara had been Adora’s first and only girlfriend. She thought back to when things first started out between them. The feelings she got from their early memories, while mostly happy ones, didn’t match up with what she felt like when she was with Catra. With Huntara, things were always so fast paced and sometimes Adora felt like she had no control over their direction as they tumbled through the throes of young love. They first met and immediately clung on to each other, Adora on the older girl’s arm wherever they went. Their relationship was always on display for everyone to see. She remembered the early days and suddenly things began to fall apart and feel fake, like the heart at the center of their relationship was made of plastic the whole time. 

When it came to Catra, though, it always felt like time stood still when they were together. Like when it was just the two of them, they became the sole inhabitants of the entire planet and everything around them ceased to exist. Actually, now that Adora thought about it, even when they were in a group, it felt like they were the only two people on earth. The yellow and blue eyes of the other girl appeared in her mind, bringing a light feeling to her stomach and a fluttering sensation to her chest. Although she wished she hadn’t, she remembered her first date with Huntara as her plus one to some big party. Adora wondered what a date with Catra would be like, if she would take her to something big and public or small and private. 

_She seems more like the quiet, romantic date type_. Adora thought about where they would go, what she would wear - would Catra be bold enough to hold her hand? Would she have to make sure they didn’t clam up or would she get lucky? The thought of Catra reaching down and intertwining their fingers made the back of Adora’s neck grow warm, spreading to her ears and face. She hardly registered the smile that had broken out on her face as her eyes fluttered open to be filled by the expectant expressions of her friends. 

_Oh… oh right… oh_ no...


	15. Chapter 15

_ What the fuck? What the hell? What the fuck? What the jesus fucking christ was that?  _ Catra’s feet pounded against the floorboards as she paced back and forth in her room, a clear path made through the dirty clothes scattered about. Sweat that had built up on her brisk march home began to dry against her skin, sending a cold chill down her back. Lacing her fingers behind her neck, she sat down, pulling her feet up onto the bed and ducking her face between her knees. She took deep, ragged breaths in until she could get her thoughts into some sort of order. She could still feel Adora’s hand pressed against her back. The spot ached to feel it again. She winced and shoved the desire away. Scrunching her eyes shut, she struggled to think about anything else other than Adora. Though she tried, behind her eyelids all Catra could see were the other girl’s eyes gazing into her own, seeming to want something from her, her expression softening into something Catra had never seen in her - or anyone - before. In the few brief moments they held that connection, she felt like the other girl was allowing her to peek into the depths of her soul and take a look around. See whether or not she liked it. See whether or not she would maybe want to make a home there. 

_ She didn’t look at you like anything special, dumbass.  _ Catra gritted her teeth and pushed her face further into her knees.  _ Now you made yourself look like an idiot. Way to go, Catra.  _

The bedroom door creaked open. She ripped her head out of her legs to see Miss Weaver in the threshold, looking like she had been coming in to task her with something. Her hand that was held pointed out to Catra fell to her side and her open mouth closed into a slimy grin. With a low chuckle, she crossed the room with more elegance than Catra had ever seen from her and dropped down to the bed next to her. A bony finger reached up and stroked her jaw before her hand turned to cup her face, gently scratching under her chin. The action forced Catra’s gaze up at Miss Weaver. 

“My dear, you don’t look like you’re feeling well.” Catra didn’t respond to the sickly sweet sentiment. Instead she attempted to pull herself away from Weaver’s grip. She expected to have to try harder to get out of it but Miss Weaver readily let go with a sigh, folding her hands in her lap. “The girl is starting in on you with her mind games, isn’t she?”

“No _.”  _ It was abrupt, quick to the defense. Catra edged away from her, pulling her legs tighter to her chest and resting her cheek on them. She could feel Miss Weaver’s eyes burning into the back of her head as she stared at the wall in the opposite direction. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.” 

“Oh, Catra.” Miss Weaver raked her fingers through the girl’s hair. After a moment of that, she snaked her arm around Catra’s shoulders and gently pulled her into her side. “You forget I  _ raised  _ Adora. There isn’t a single person who knows her better than I do. I’ve seen her ways before, I know her tactics to hurt those nearest to her. If you aren’t careful, she’ll take her toll on you too.”

Miss Weaver gave Catra’s shoulder a squeeze before letting her hand fall back to her lap. She sighed and rose to her feet, stopping at the doorway on her way out to turn to her ward. 

“Just know I only have your best interest at heart, my dear.” She gave Catra a curt nod before taking off down the hall. Only then did Catra allow herself to release her limbs and fall into her sheets. 

_ Weaver doesn’t know what the hell she’s talking about.  _

She twisted around, taking the blankets with her and cocooning herself into them. Her eyes fluttered shut and the sound of buzzing cicadas outside her window filled her ears but couldn’t drown out her thoughts of the girl down the road and Weaver’s warning. 

——

Catra awoke before the sun was over the horizon. The first moment of consciousness as she looked out the window was disorienting. The sky was still a dark shade of blue but showed signs of the oncoming morning as the stars flickered out of the sky. Usually, if Catra woke up that early she had no issues with going back to sleep, but this morning it was as if her brain was playing an intense, never ending game of ping pong. She began to grow restless. With a huff she threw herself out of bed and slipped on a pair of shoes, grabbing her sketchbook and pencil pouch before she crept out of her room and down the stairs. She made as little noise as possible to not wake Miss Weaver as she moved through the house and out the front door. 

The early morning breeze blew through the weeds on either side of the street as she walked the road right down the centerline. When Catra closed her eyes it almost sounded like gentle waves crashing on a beach. She walked heel to toe on the dashed lines of the street to amuse herself with arms stuck out to her side until she passed by Adora’s house. Slowing her pace, she peered through the windows to see if there was any sign of life but everyone seemed to still be asleep. Picking up her speed again, she came to the trail Adora would have once scolded her for trespassing down. Catra smiled at the thought. 

It was a long walk to the clearing but it had easily become one of Catra’s favorite spots. It was quiet enough, the sounds of nature weren’t too much to become overbearing and it was a place where Catra could easily flow. Due to bad experiences throughout the years, she made it a habit to always take her creativity outside of whatever house she was at at the time and find the best place to sit in silence and sketch. She had found good places in the past but never one that was quite as good as the clearing. Maybe she was biased because half the time she was there it was with Adora but Catra was almost certain that the small patch of cleared land at the end of trail was as close to heaven on earth as someone could possibly get. 

Thoughts of the night before came flooding into Catra’s mind as she kicked a rock down the dirt path. Just as quickly as the memories of Adora’s palm pressed against her back and the proximity of their fingertips afterwards seeped in, so did Miss Weaver’s speech about mind games. She wrinkled her nose. Certainly Adora wasn’t capable or would even think about hurting Catra or trying to deceive her. They had only known each other for a short while, but she was sure Adora wasn’t the type of person Miss Weaver made her out to be. She couldn’t be. The Adora she knew named cows things like Wagyu and made packed lunches, she didn’t destroy people from the inside out. She wasn’t some horrible, abusive monster. 

But then Catra remembered the way Adora so tenderly caressed Huntara’s jaw, making even her think she cared about the girl’s wellbeing, before striking her across the face. It seemed so easy for her to lull her into a false sense of security before attacking. She began to wonder to what extent that went to but quickly shook the thought away. 

_ It’s just Weaver getting into your head with her bullshit.  _

Catra sighed and threw her head back. The canopy of tree branches above her opened up, exposing the barely sunlit skies. She let her gaze fall down and could see she had finally reached the clearing. She crossed to the tree she and Adora usually shared as a backrest and plopped down and cracked open her sketchbook. As soon as pencil met paper, Catra was scratching lines out across the page. In the granite across the paper, Wellington began to come alive, a few sketchy lines indicating grass he had been chewing on.

Wellington was much smaller when Catra first met him, making him her favorite amongst Adora’s herd. Even though he had gotten considerably larger - and Adora told her he’s still got more growing to do - he was still her favorite. Just a much more frightening favorite. She would never tell the other girl that though. She would use it as an excuse to try and make her get close to the rest of the animals. No, Catra would just stick to giving the young cow a quick scratch behind the ear when Adora wasn’t looking, thank you very much. 

She grinned as her lines came together to give her her little boy’s face on the page. The neck and body was easy work after that. She was in the middle of sketching out the young cow’s shoulders when she heard a twig snap at the entrance of the clearing. Her eyes shot up to see…

“Glimmer?” She cocked her head to the side at the girl who was picking leaves out of her hair. Glimmer stopped in the middle of plucking one leaf out and dropping it to the ground, her hand hanging in midair. 

“I thought I saw someone coming down this way.” Glimmer let her arms fall back down to her side as she crossed the clearing to sit down next to Catra. She leaned over to get a peek at what Catra had been drawing in her sketchbook. Only able to catch a quick glimpse before the other girl slammed the book shut and put it to her side, she giggled. “The moo moos are starting to grow on you, huh?” 

“Whatever.” Catra huffed and looked away. “What’re you doing up so early anyway?” 

“ _ Ugh.  _ Me and Bow take some weekends so Adora can catch a break.” She said with a groan as she leaned back into the tree, letting her head rest against the bark as her eyes drifted shut. “It’s exhausting work. I don’t know how she does it. I can barely take a summer of it at a time.” 

“It’s easy to do something you love.“

“I guess it is.” Glimmer raised an eyebrow and shot her a side glance before exhaling a short chuckle. “I guess that explains why you’re out there helping all the time, too?” 

“Stop.” Catra winced and held a hand up between them. “I’d hardly call what I do ‘helping’ anyway.” 

“Yeah, I think I’d call it ‘drooling over Adora’s muscles.’” Glimmer giggled into her fingertips, only stopping when the other girl sent her a glare. “What? I don’t blame you. They’re very good muscles. A good choice, Catra.” 

Catra’s face grew hot. She looked away, scowling at a rock a few feet away from them. This time when Glimmer began to chortle at her she kept her gaze fixed away from her. The other girl gently shoved her but she reached around and swatted the hand away. 

“I don’t just stare at her muscles.” Catra huffed at the rock. She shifted so she could cross her arms on her knees and rest her chin in them. “It’s not like I like her that way, anyway.”

“I never said you did.” Catra whirled back around at the smug tone, glaring at the source. Glimmer held her hands up. “Okay, okay. Too early for jokes, I see. Why don’t you tell me why you’re sitting in the dirt in your pajamas then?” 

Catra looked down at herself, forgetting the way she had left the house that morning. Her tank top and shorts had gotten dirty on her excursion through the woods, bits of foliage and dirt clinging to her that she hadn’t noticed earlier. She picked the debris off of herself and flicked it away. With a huff she explained to Glimmer her issue with getting back to sleep that morning and how she took the stroll to get some peace and quiet before Miss Weaver could wake up. 

“Come on.” Glimmer stood, holding out her hand with a sympathetic expression. Catra took it and let the other girl hoist her up. “I’m about to go make some breakfast if you want. Bow’s going to be over soon and Adora will probably be awake by the time we get back if she isn’t already.” 

——

Catra sat at the counter as the smell of bacon and eggs drifted to her nostrils and her mouth began to water. Glimmer portioned some of the food out onto two plates and pushed the rest of it to the back of the stove stop. As soon as Catra’s plate was in front of her and Glimmer was seated beside her, she was ready to dig in. They ate in silence for a few minutes until their attention was drawn to an exaggerated yawn from the stairs, footsteps thumping down them. Moments laters, Adora appeared in the kitchen, rubbing her eyes and letting out another yawn. When she noticed Catra sitting at the counter with a forkful of egg halfway to her mouth, she froze, fist still rubbing at her eyeball. 

“Oh, g-good morning, Catra.” She let out a sheepish chuckle and crossed the kitchen to where Glimmer had left the food to load her own plate, pointing her gaze at the floor the entire time. “What’s got you up this early.”

“Oh, you know.” Catra shrugged her shoulders and grinned at her but she still looked away. “So excited by the thought of men getting thrown off horses and cows tonight, I couldn't sleep.”

Adora laughed at her. The tension when she first saw Catra was beginning to ease away, her shoulders loosening as she took the stool on the other side of her. As the other girl hopped into the seat, Catra had to stop herself from scanning down her neck, across her shoulders, and down her biceps. She ripped her attention away from Adora’s exposed muscles in her loose fitting tank top and met her gaze, letting out a shy laugh when she settled into her seat, bringing them face to face. 

“Are you actually excited, though?” Adora took half a piece of bacon in one bite and began to crunch on it as she looked to Catra. 

Catra opened her mouth to answer but was cut off by the sound of the front door bursting open and bouncing off the wall behind it. Bow’s unmistakable groan of concern followed the commotion. 

“Ahoy!” A guy that Catra didn't recognize burst into the kitchen, following his nose to the plate of meat on the stove before swiping a piece. Walking back around the counter, he threw his arms around the three girls sitting down and squished them all into an embrace. “Oh, how good it is to see my beloved friends again. Oh? But who is this?”

“Sorry.” Bow finally appeared in the room, stealing their attention as he huffed and leaned against the doorway. “My dads were studying some old runes and Sea Hawk was getting too rowdy, I had to get him out of there.” 

“Nonsense. George and Lance adore my input.” Sea Hawk bent down and whispered into Catra’s ear. “It’s why they keep letting me stay with them when I visit.” 

Catra batted his face away from her own and spun around in the stool to face him. She set him with a glare which he, surprisingly, understood and took a few steps back. 

“A feisty new friend?” He gave Catra a low bow and reached out to take her hand. Hesitantly, she handed it over, allowing Sea Hawk to give it a small kiss. She quickly retracted the hand and wiped it on her pants, Adora stifling a giggle next to her. “The name is Sea Hawk. A pleasure to make your acquaintance. Will you be coming with us on our search today?” 

“Search?” Catra eyed Adora, questioning her with the glance. “I thought we were gonna be watching you get trampled by a bull.” 

“Sea Hawk got kicked out of his college and his parents won’t let him move back in. He has to find an apartment here. Preferably before my dads kick both of us out.” Bow hopped up onto the counter, looking a little too exhausted. “I’m driving him around before the rodeo to go look at a few places.”

Catra’s ears perked up at that. An apartment search would be to her benefit but it wasn’t something she was ready to deal with at a spur of the moment like that. Adora could see the gears working and looked to her with a raised eyebrow to which the other girl ignored. 

Sea Hawk saved her and dove into some tale that Catra was sure he had made up the further along he got in it. Something about a power outage and a fire he made to save the people of his apartment building from the dark. She was beginning to wonder if that had anything to do with why he had been kicked out of school but when she leaned over to whisper the question to Adora, the other girl shot her a glance that told her enough. This was probably one of many, many reasons that had built up over time. 

“—and they all rejoiced and sang their praises to me! Can you believe I was put on probation for that? The people  _ needed  _ me and I came to them! More than the university was doing, I tell you.” Sea Hawk held the back of his hand to his forehead and sighed in agony. “They will never know the true hero they have lost.” 

“That was an amazing story, Sea Hawk. I have to go clean out stalls now.” Glimmer sounded as uninterested as she had looked throughout his retellings. She gathered up empty plates and took them to the sink, letting them clatter against each other as they fell into one of the compartments. She waved her goodbyes to the group before leaving through the back door. Catra’s gaze followed after her, falling to the window where she could see the sun had finally taken its place in the sky. 

A chirping sound came from Sea Hawk. He emitted some sound of excitement before digging into his pocket for it. 

“My dearest Mermista is awake.” He spun around and grabbed Bow’s shoulder, almost sending him toppling off the counter. “She is ready for us to retrieve her.” 

“Already?” Bow looked at the time and pouted. He took a few more pieces of bacon off the plate before waving to Catra and Adora. “I guess we’ll see you ladies at the fairgrounds later then.” 

“Farewell, friend and new, feisty friend.” Sea Hawk bowed to them before turning on his feet to walk out of the kitchen, waving at them one more time as he disappeared out the doorway, Bow close behind him as he bid his own adieu. 

The front door swung open and slammed shut, leaving Adora and Catra by themselves in an awkward tension. Catra looked to her hands in her lap and began picking at her fingernails. She meant to only glance over at the other girl for a brief moment but stopped as her eyes instantly met Adora’s. 

“Um, so…” Adora rang a hand around the back of her neck, her other balling into a fist in her lap. “How was that homework?” 

“It was… fine. I guess.” Catra couldn’t read the other girl’s expression. Though Adora had been staring at her just moments before, she seemed to be doing everything in her power to not make eye contact with her now. Catra let out a breathy chuckle and leaned forward slightly, reaching out and giving Adora’s knee a gentle tap. “What’s up your ass, huh?”

At the slight contact between Catra’s hand and her knee, Adora let herself relax again with an extended exhale. 

“I guess I am acting weird, aren’t I?” She laughed at herself and clasped her hands together in her lap. She twisted them around each other before dropping them into her legs and squeezing them between her thighs, hunching over herself just a little as she chewed on her lip. After seeming to deeply consider something for a moment, she let out another short laugh and shook her head. “Yeah, I’m probably just nervous for Sea Hawk is all.”

“Well now that I’ve met him, I can say that he looks like a rag doll and he can probably take whatever beating that bull’s gonna dish out on him tonight.” Catra threw her thumb over her shoulder in the direction the two boys had left in. 

“Speaking of tonight.” Adora looked Catra up and down, assumedly questioning her dirt covered pajamas. “You plan on spending the whole day in that?”

—-

“Here, this should work.” Adora thrust an assortment of clothes into Catra’s arms even though she had insisted she could’ve gone back to Miss Weaver’s house to change. Adora turned her around with strong arms and gave her a gentle shove towards the bathroom. 

Catra groaned and disappeared behind the door. Sharing clothes wasn’t something she had been accustomed to. She held the shirt up to look at. It was a crop top with a blue stripe across the chest. Without really thinking about it, she held the shirt to her nose and took a deep breath in. Her eyes that had drifted shut during the moment shot open at the realization of what she was doing. She cursed herself and threw the shirt down on the counter, stripping out of her own clothes and tossing them on top of the toilet. The jeans Adora had picked out were a little too loose but the outfit fit well enough. Looking at herself in the mirror, resting a hand on her exposed stomach, she tried to imagine Adora in the getup. Catra was used to seeing her in overalls or jeans and a white, stained t-shirt or tank top. The tight fitting jeans and crop top made Catra wonder what her life was like when she wasn’t on the farm. She knew the other girl liked parties - was this outfit one she would wear for a night out? 

Catra fleshed both of her hands across her bare stomach and began fiddling with the hem of the shirt between her thumbs and forefingers. A knock on the door pulled her away from the distraction. 

“Catra?” Adora’s worried voice sounded from the other side of the door. “Catra, you okay in there?”

Catra moved for the doorknob and flung the slab of wood open, Adora stumbling into the bathroom after it. 

“Oh.” She steadied herself, her eyes trailing up and down Catra’s body. Her face grew red as she reached a hand behind her neck and began scratching at the spot. “Oh, wow.”


	16. Chapter 16

_ Shit, shit,  _ shit  _ she’s hot. That’s what’s under all those baggy t-shirts?  _ Adora only noticed she was staring when Catra took a tentative step backwards. She shot her eyes up to Catra’s own and felt like she could shrink into herself. 

“Oh, uh, you look cute.” She stammered. She could feel the nervous grin on her face, wishing it could be tamed. Catra raised an eyebrow at her. “Um- I mean- the clothes. The clothes look cute on you.” 

Catra gave her a lopsided grin and chuckled, looking down at her feet. 

_ Smooth.  _ Adora wanted to smack herself. She only just found out she even liked Catra as more than just a friend and she was already making herself look like a fool. She had a whole month of looking like a dummy to make up for as is, she shouldn’t keep piling up on top of that. But she couldn’t help it. Since the night before, realizing her feelings with Bow and Glimmer, it was like a flood broke loose from Adora’s heart, threatening to drown out the whole world if she couldn’t express herself. Now that she could explain the tightening in her chest, the fluttering in her stomach whenever Catra was around, all she wanted to do was revel in it. Just a simple glance at Catra made her feel alive and the girl didn’t even know it. How could Adora hold on to this knowledge and not let it overwhelm her? How could she finally understand why her heart stopped whenever Catra looked at her  _ like that  _ \- like she was right now, with that shy, crooked smile that she seemed to reserve only for her - and not scream it at the top of her lungs? And not grab Catra by her shoulders, shake her back and forth and tell her to her face that she thinks she might want to kiss her? But for right now, all Adora could do was stand, packed into her bathroom with the object of her affection and gawk at how hot she looked in her own clothes. 

“Come on.” Catra laughed, shaking her head. She brushed past Adora as she left the bathroom, their shoulders colliding in slow motion for Adora as she took in the moment. “How do you plan on entertaining me until this thing?” 

Catra dropped down onto Adora’s bed. The crop top rode further up her stomach as she leaned back onto her elbows, grinning up at Adora with her head tilted to the side. There it goes again. Adora’s heart skipping a beat. At this rate, she was sure Catra was going to give her a heart attack. 

Wordlessly, she crossed the room and sat down next to the other girl, choosing to be bold enough to sit close enough to her that they were practically on top of each other. Catra maintained the warming smile as she settled in next to her. 

The warmth radiated from her, manifesting as heat blooming in Adora’s stomach and spreading to her chest, then to the rest of her body as she looked down at Catra. She knew the other girl had freckles but never quite noticed the little galaxy that lightly speckled the bridge of her nose, too light to see from a respectable distance. The distance between them now was anything but respectable. Adora wondered how easy it would be to swoop down and take Catra’s jaw in her palm, pull her closer so their noses were brushing against each other and so she could feel the other girl’s hot breath against her own as their lips grazed each other. 

She shook the thought, feeling guilty for thinking so intrusively of her friend. If she didn’t want to scare Catra away, she would have to try and contain herself. 

“Entertain you?” Adora laughed, ripping her gaze away from the other girl and letting her back fall flat on the bed. She clasped her hands behind her head and stared up at the ceiling. “Well you’re about to be traumatized by horses. Are you sure you don’t want to try and ride one before that?” 

“Hah! You’re not getting me on a horse, Princess.” Catra turned to lay on her side, propping her head up on her hand. 

Usually Adora wouldn’t argue but she was feeling lucky. She looked down at Catra with a wicked smirk. “You wanna bet?” 

——

“This is the stirrup, it’s where you’ll put your foot to hoist yourself up. Step in with your left foot and then when you’re up, swing your right leg over. But be careful not to kick him, he’ll really hate you if you do.” 

It took more pouting than convincing, but Adora did it. If there was one thing she knew about the other girl it was that her pouts worked wonders on her, caving in with little to no effort on Adora’s part. She got her situated on Swift Wind, having a much easier time than she thought she would, and grabbed onto his reins, holding them up for Catra to take. 

“Wait, you aren’t getting on this thing too?” Catra’s eyes went wide as they darted back and forth between Adora and the reins in her hand. “I don’t even have my license, you think I can steer a horse?”

Adora could hear Glimmer’s giggles as she cleared out one of the stalls on the other side of the stable. She shot her a glare telling her to shut up, the girl recoiling deeper into the stall and out of sight. This was as far as Adora had ever gotten with getting Catra on a horse and Glimmer wasn’t going to ruin it. She took her gaze away from her adopted sister and looked up to Catra, fear in her face as she clung to Swift Wind’s reins with white knuckles. Adora could feel heat creep across her cheeks at the thought of what it would mean to get on her steed’s back with Catra. 

“Y-you’re sure you want m-me to get up there and help you?” She winced at her stammer but Catra hadn’t seemed to notice. Adora could see her jaw twitch as she clenched her teeth together, looking down at Adora and giving her a short nod, her eyes widened and her nostrils flaring against harsh breaths. 

Adora released a nervous chuckle but stuck her own foot in the stirrup anyway, lifting herself up and swinging her leg over Swift Wind’s back with a grunt. Catra tensed as Adora reached her arms around either side of her waist to take the reins from her hands but eased into the contact once she handed the leather straps over to her. Catra placed her hands on the saddle in front of her and leaned back into Adora’s chest, her strawberry scented hair tickling Adora’s nose. She inhaled deeply before giving Swift Wind’s sides a little kick, eliciting a yelp from the other girl as he began to move towards the stables exit. 

“Oh, god, what—“ Catra lurched forward and grabbed onto the horn of the saddle, her shoulder blades arching under her shirt as her body began to tense again. 

Swift Wind wasn’t phased by her shifting, walking onwards, but the movements were nudging Adora over the edge of the saddle. She readjusted herself. Placing a hand on the other girl’s back, she began to rub small circles into the exposed skin, hoping it would ease her. She leaned over slightly to speak clearly to Catra. 

“It’s okay.” She gave her back a gentle pat before resuming the circles as they bounced up and down on Swift Wind’s back. He was going as slow as he could but Catra was still curled over into the saddle. “I know it’s scary being this high up for the first time but you’re not gonna get over it if you don’t look up.”

Adora sighed a breath of relief as Catra seemed to relax at that and slowly straighten back up with a groan. She refused to let go of the horn as Adora led her horse across the field, explaining the simple details to Catra along the way. 

“So why do you keep kicking him?” Catra turned her head so Adora could see her profile as she strained to look over her shoulder. 

“It’s more of a squeeze than a kick but it makes him go faster. And then when you tug the reins this way or this way,” She demonstrated, her horse veering to either side she tugged in. “It makes him go left or right. And then pulling straight back is to stop.”

Catra turned back around. As the other girl grew more comfortable on the ride, it began to feel more natural for Catra to have her back pressed into Adora’s chest, her arms wrapped around her sides as they rested on Catra’s legs, clutching the reins in tight hands. In a bold decision, Adora let her chin rest on Catra’s shoulder, releasing the reins from one hand to reach up and nudge some of the other girl’s hair out of the way. She almost pulled away when Catra flinched but the other girl leaned back into the contact when she realized it was just Adora and not presumably some monster clamping it’s grip around her shoulder. Adora let Swift Wind roam in whatever direction he wanted as she just lived in the moment a little bit longer with Catra. 

“I think you’re liking this.” Adora lightly chuckled into her ear. She held the leather straps up for Catra. “You think you want to take the reins?”

“Don’t push your luck, cowgirl.” Catra spoke through gritted teeth but let out an airy chuckle as she swatted Adora’s hands away. She turned her head to face Adora again. 

Blue and golden eyes just inches away from Adora’s own. They never looked so beautiful before but she was seeing them in a new light now, her breath catching in her throat all the same. Catra didn’t seem to be upset by their closeness, her lips splitting slightly into a crooked grin. Adora’s nerves were going wild. The fluttering that usually was contained to her stomach flooded out to the rest of her body, a nervous, uncontrollable laugh escaping her lips that Catra returned. 

“Um…” Catra quirked an eyebrow at her, looking down to the ground below them. “Is your horse just walking in circles right now?”

Adora lifted her head off her shoulder and looked around, then down at her hands. Swift Wind had in fact been following her lead as she unknowingly had the reins pulled to one side. She gathered her bearings and located the stables out in the distance, not realizing how far away they had traipsed from them. With a tug of the reins, she turned Swift Wind around and guided him back towards the horses’ enclosure. 

“It’s not as horrifying as it could be, I guess.” Catra finally huffed her answer, leaning back into Adora’s chest and letting go of the horn, placing her hands on the saddle between her thighs. “Does he go faster?”

Catra didn’t have to say another word. With a grin and a tight squeeze around Swift Wind’s sides, the horse picked up his speed. Adora loosened her grip on the reins, giving Swift Wind full control as he galloped through the field. The force threw Catra further into Adora. She startled, grabbing for the horn again with one hand and gripping Adora’s knee with the other. She could feel the girl’s nails gripping into her through the fabric of her jeans as she made some garbled sound of fear drowned out by the wind whipping around their bodies. Adora was satisfied with the amount of distance they bridged and gently tightened her grip on the reins. She tossed her head back laughing as her steed slowed back down to a trot. When Catra was confident enough to keep her balance without assistance, she let go of Adora’s knee and gave it a hard smack. 

“What? You asked if he could go faster.” Adora pulled Swift Wind to a halt as she approached the wooden gates. In a well practiced motion, she dismounted the horse, taking him by his reins and guiding him through to the enclosure on foot. When Adora locked the gates behind them and brought them to a stop, Catra remained seated atop of Swift Wind, looking anxiously between Adora and the saddle. She raised an eyebrow up at her and rest her hands on her hips. “You like it up there?” 

“You didn’t tell me how to get off.” Catra made a strained face to which Adora giggled at, lifting a hand to cover her mouth. 

“Here.” She pushed the reins into Catra’s left hand and took the hand into her own, moving it to a spot on Swift Wind’s mane, right at the base of his neck. She took her foot and placed it in the stirrup. “Put your right hand next to your left, make sure your other foot is out of the stirrup, and then do what you did to get on but in reverse.” 

Catra gave her a short nod and followed the instructions. Adora braced herself behind her in case she fell but Catra dropped to the ground with ease. 

“It’s like you’re a natural now!” Glimmer shouted from across the fenced in area where she threw hay into a pile. Horses gathered around her to graze at the straw, a younger looking one munching it right out of her arms. When she was done, she clapped her hands together and shed her gloves, crossing over the field to where they were. “I saw what she did. That wasn’t nice, Adora.”

“She  _ asked  _ if he could go  _ faster.”  _ Adora threw her hands out as if that should’ve been enough of an explanation. 

“The answer should’ve been yes or no, not ‘giddy-up boy.’” Catra scoffed and shouldered the other girl, making her stumble to the side. Adora regained her balance and returned the action with greater force. 

“It’s not my fault, you should’ve clarified.” She spoke through chuckles. She turned her gaze to Glimmer. “And you stop instigating.”

Glimmer opened her mouth to say something but a ringing from her pocket stopped her. 

“One second.” She pulled her phone out and disappeared into the stable, taking Swift Wind with her to untack him and put him in the field with the others as she held the device up to her ear with her shoulder. She returned moments later with a dopey grin on her face. “That was Bow. He said Sea Hawk’s talking to someone about a room now and then they’re heading over to the fairgrounds if we want to get ready to meet them.” 

Adora checked the time. It was already past noon and she wasn’t sure where the day had gone so quickly but when she put her attention back on her friends they somehow had started squabbling over something. 

“By the time one of you finally asks the other out, I’ll be in a grave.” Catra clutched her side as she laughed at her own retort. 

“You are  _ sooo _ one to talk, Catra.” Glimmer huffed, crossing her arms and sticking her tongue out at the other girl. “I’ll already be well into my next lifetime by the time—“ Adora raised an eyebrow as Glimmer cut herself short and cleared her throat. “Nevermind it. I have to get in the shower.” 

——

The fairgrounds were bustling. Adora wasn’t able to make it more than a few steps at a time without brushing shoulders with someone in the crowd, whether it be a stranger or her own friends. Catra looked unamused by the situation but put on a good face for the group. Though, Adora did worry that the next person to collide with her was going to get their head torn off if they didn’t get out of the immediate vicinity fast. 

Not a lot ever changed in their dreary little town and of course among those things that never changed was the rodeo. For one week at the end of each summer, the townspeople got together to throw up a big top tent in the middle of a field, put together rickety metal bleachers and some makeshift arena to gather round and watch full grown men and women get manhandled by livestock. Going to your first rodeo was a right of passage and Adora remembered her’s well. Her and the other kids under Miss Weaver’s care at the time were made to come and help sell her prized chickens’ eggs at a stall outside the arena like many other farmers around the area gathered to do for the event. Their reward for the long day’s work was to sit in probably the worst seats Miss Weaver could get and watch on as cowboys and cowgirls clung to stallions and steer for dear life. Adora’s first rodeo was also the first time she had ever seen someone nearly get trampled to death… But she would save that story to tell Catra another time. 

“There they are.” Glimmer pushed ahead of the trio, shouldering people out of her way as she took off towards where she saw Bow. Adora couldn’t see them but followed her anyway, grabbing onto Catra’s hand as to not lose her in the crowd. It was beginning to space out, but you can never be too careful. 

“Catra!” A voice shouted as Bow, Sea Hawk, and Mermista came into view but it hadn’t come from them. 

Both Catra and Adora scanned the crowd for the source but the source found them first. Scorpia, despite her size, appeared out of thin air. In less than a second she had Catra in the air in a big bear hug, Perfuma appearing behind her and laughing into her hand. 

_ That’s nothing. I bet I could lift her too.  _ Adora rolled her eyes at the scene. From Scorpia’s embrace, Catra groaned in faux distress, tilting her head back to aim her disgruntlement over her captor’s head. 

“It’s been an entire day and a half since I've seen you so you can have two more seconds of this and then that’s it.” Catra wriggled her arms free of the hug and pushed against Scorpia but she didn’t relent until her two seconds was up. 

“Wow, that was two seconds longer than you usually let me do that.” Scorpia dropped her hugee to the ground. She stumbled back into Perfuma, who gave her a light hug from behind with a wistful greeting before releasing her. Adora chuckled to herself while Catra grew frustrated with the two overly affectionate friends. 

“Oh, the Best Friend Squad is reunited again.” Sea Hawk’s voice bellowed over them all, followed by a groan from Mermista. He threw his arms around the group, encasing as many of them as he could in the embrace. Letting them go with a dramatic flair, he thrust his fist in the air. “Now are we ready for a day of adventure?” 

“Adventure!” Bow shouted, pumping both of his own fists into the air as him and Sea Hawk shared a battle cry. 

“Um… the actual events don’t start for like another hour and a half.” Glimmer raised an eyebrow at the two, shaking her head at them. “You boys better get ready, we have a lot of booths to stop at before the ‘adventure _.’” _

The group looked around at the countless rows of vendors. Adora recognized most of them, from the produce vendors to the craft booths to the vendors that sold specialized farming and riding equipment. It was mostly the same faces in the same spots every year, which would mean Miss Weaver’s booth would be somewhere near the entrance of the arena, a spot they would have to walk by eventually. The past few years that Adora had attended the rodeo as a part of Glimmer’s family, she had grown skillful at passing by the booth without detection, Miss Weaver usually being too occupied with crowds of buyers to notice her, but this time she had Catra to sneak past her as well. The thought struck Adora as their group began to glance around at different booths. 

“Hey.” She tapped Catra’s arm with the back of her hand, gaining her attention from the handmade jewelry she had been prodding at. “You know Weaver’s around here somewhere, right?”

Catra’s jaw clenched but she didn’t allow the rest of her face to emote, something Adora noticed she never seemed to restrict herself from when it was just the two of them. 

“Nearby?” Her blue and yellow eyes darted around, looking over the heads of the crowds as she tried to pick out Miss Weaver amongst them. “How do you know?” 

The group had broken off into pairs, splitting away as each group went to a different booth. Catra’s eyes shifted around nervously, her chest beginning to heave as she continued to search the crowd relentlessly. Adora reached out and gave her wrist a gentle squeeze to try and ground her, Catra’s eye darting over into her own. 

“There shouldn’t be any reason to worry, she’s usually too busy with her booth.” Tentatively, she let her hand slip down from Catra’s wrist to clasp her own. Adora wondered if she was beginning to be too forward for the day but Catra never retracted from her. That realization brought a small smile to her lips but she shook the thought to put away for another time, focusing her attention back on Catra. “It’ll be okay. I got you if she sees us.” 

“I couldn’t care less about her seeing us, I just don’t feel like getting a public reaming from her in front of the whole town.” Catra scoffed and waved a hand in the air between them, as if swatting away any worries either of them may have had. Catra turned her gaze away and pouted at the ground for a moment before meeting Adora’s eyes again, giving her a small smile. “But thanks for the warning anyway.” 

Catra shook her head and let out a short laugh before wandering away to another booth that was mainly bare save for blueprints hung around and a stand in the center with a miniature display of a high tech tractor poised on top. The girl who ran the booth sat in the front glued to her laptop as Catra wandered in, ignoring all the blueprints and peering at the display. 

“This thing doesn’t even have a seat on it.” Catra raised an eyebrow at the thing. She looked up to the other girl and pointed at it with a confused expression, awaiting an answer. Adora opened her mouth to say something but the purple haired booth runner hopped out of her seat, sending her fold up chair clattering to the ground as she rushed to Catra’s side. 

“That’s the beauty in it!” The woman squealed, holding her fists tight in front of her chest, shaking them in excitement. Catra flinched away from her but the lady only took another step closer, her thrill growing. “This bad girl is  _ fully  _ autonomous. When I finally get her up and running she’ll be able to plow and seed fields in half the time! With more accuracy than dainty little hands like these can do.” She jumped around Catra towards Adora, grabbing her by the wrists and holding her hands up for Catra to see. 

“My hands are  _ not  _ dainty.” Adora huffed, pulling her hands from the woman and hiding them away under her armpits. “Ugh, Catra, this is Entrapta. She owns the tractor supply store in town.”

“And if Auto Betty doesn’t peak your interest for some reason, my other blueprints will certainly tickle your fancy!” Entrapta swept her arms out to the designs covering her booth. “My husband and I can customize any piece of farming equipment you want! Just take a look around.” 

“Uh… huh…” Catra shared a quick glance with Adora. “I’m not really the tractor type of girl. Maybe another time.” 

Careful not to knock into the display of the fancy tractor, Catra backed away from Entrapta, grabbing Adora by her arm and tugging her out of the booth and back into the crowd. 

“Dainty little hands, huh?” Catra snorted, holding her hands to her exposed stomach. She held one up to Adora as they walked, making her stop in her tracks and stare at it inquisitively. Catra rolled her eyes and laughed again. “Come on, let me see the dainty little hands.” 

_ Oh.  _ Adora could feel her face flush as she let out a nervous chuckle directed towards Catra’s hand hanging in the air. Their eyes lingered on each other for a moment and suddenly the crowd around them dissipated from Adora’s mind, leaving just the two of them in the middle of the fairgrounds as she hesitantly lifted her own hand up. She didn’t have time to worry about whether or not they had clammed up even though she was sure they had. She placed her palm against Catra’s anyway, savoring the feeling of the girl’s soft flesh against her own calloused skin. Though she tried to contain the fluttering in her chest and the heat building up in her body, Adora couldn’t help the grin that broke out on her face as they compared their hands. Her’s was slightly wider and her fingers were maybe a few centimeters longer than Catra’s. A victory in her book. 

_ Dainty little hands my ass, Entrapta.  _ Adora met Catra’s gaze to take her chance to gloat but was interrupted. 

“You guys will  _ not  _ believe this!” Glimmer’s squeal brought the crowd around them back to Adora’s attention. She came rushing up to them with some large eared stuffed animal in her hands, Bowfollowing close behind. “They have  _ games  _ set up now. Look at what Bow won for me.” She held the plush up for them to see. 

As if the two pairs meeting up sent out a homing beacon, the rest of the group made their way through the crowds to reconnect with them. Sea Hawk looked particularly excited to share some bit of news with them as he walked up, Mermista trailing behind him holding onto his hand with an aggravated expression. 

“Ladies and gentleman, have I a treat for you.” He held a finger up as he spoke, waving it in the air like a maestro. “We’ve been invited to a party after the rodeo.” Sea Hawk swept his arms out and open as he revealed the big announcement, waiting for the excitement from his friends that never came. “Come on, guys, it’ll be fun, get excited. My good friend Bill is hosting.” 

“Uhh… I thought Bill hated you ever since you lit his flower garden on fire.” Scorpia prodded at the topic but Sea Hawk waved the issue away. 

“Nonsense. Bygones will be bygones as they say.” His gaze shifted around the members of the group, an eyebrow raised with a devilish grin. “Besides it’ll be… An adventure!” 

“Adventure!” Bow shouted after him, throwing his arm around Glimmer’s shoulder and pulling her into his side. 

Adora eyed Catra throughout the conversation, wondering where she stood on attending the party but her expression was unreadable. With her arms crossed and hip popped to the side, the girl stared at the argument that ensued between Sea Hawk and Mermista about how good or bad the decision to go would be with a blank expression. After a beat her head bobbed like she had let out a silent laugh and she turned her gaze to the ground, kicking at the dirt below her feet. 

“Hey.” Adora whispered, tapping Catra’s elbow and drawing her attention. “Do you want to go to that or no?”

Catra’s face twisted in thought. After a moment, she shrugged her shoulders and leaned over to Adora so only she could hear over the group’s bantering. “Yeah, sure, whatever. Can’t be that bad.” 

Adora quirked an eyebrow at her. She almost wished Catra had denied the offer as an excuse to skip out as well but it seemed like she was locked in to the plan. While she used to love parties, catching her ex cheating on her at the last one Adora tried to attend left a sour taste in her mouth. 

But when Catra looked at her with those soft eyes, her gentle, uneven smile, Adora was suddenly ready to let go of the past and forge new memories with the girl. She gave her a smile and a short nod before fixing her attention back to the argument that Glimmer and Perfuma somehow wiggled into the middle of. 

“ _ LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, COWBOYS AND COWGIRLS, THE EVENTS WILL BE STARTING IN ONE HOUR! STEER WRESTLERS TO THE GATES FOR PREPPING!”  _

The squabbling amongst the group and the restless crowd around them came to a pause as everyone looked up at the speakers blaring the announcement. There were a few people who seemed to be fighting through the crowd to get to the arena. 

“I guess that means we should go find our seats before the crowd’s too heavy.” Bow threw a thumb over to the entrance of the big top tent and took off in the direction, the group falling in line behind him. Catra and Adora stuck to the back of the group with Perfuma and Scorpia in front of them. The taller of the two turned back as she walked to beam down at Catra. 

“Oh, this is so exciting, your first rodeo.” She held her fists up and shook them much like Entrapta had earlier when talking about her machinery. Adora rolled her eyes at her and scoffed but it went unnoticed by Scorpia as she continued on. “You are going to have so much fun, little pal, I can’t wait to see the look on your face.” 

The girl fell back and hooked an arm around Catra’s shoulder, talking enthusiastically into her ear as she wedged herself between her and Adora. As much as she hated to admit it, Adora’s heart sank a little as she watched the two interact, Catra not seeming to be perturbed by the girl’s proximity save for a few eye rolls at whatever she was going on about. She picked up her pace to match speed with Perfuma who was a few paces ahead of them. 

“Sooo…” She nudged the slender girl’s shoulder with her own, trying to stir up the right words in her brain. “So, uh, Scorpia and Catra seem like they’ve gotten pretty close, huh?” 

“Oh, yes.” Perfuma’s face fell for a moment as she took a quick glance over her shoulder but she didn’t let it falter for long, a new wave of serenity coming over her as she turned back to Adora. “In their own way, they’ve grown very close. Scorpia is very keen on her ‘little pal.’” 

Perfuma giggled but there was a hint of bitterness to it that almost went unregistered by Adora. She gave her a curt nod, looking over her shoulder for a moment before fixing her attention on the back of Mermista’s hair as the entrance to the big top came into view in front of them. 

Trying to get thoughts of Scorpia and Catra out of her head, she looked around to see if she could spot long dark hair amongst any of the vendors near the entrance. When her eyes couldn’t find Miss Weaver, Adora began to wonder if that had been a good or bad thing. For now, she ignored the problem and pushed through the entrance of the tent, a barely audible gasp coming from behind her. 

“ _ Oh, woah.”  _


	17. Chapter 17

Scorpia rattled into Catra’s ears about something or other as Bow led the group to the big top. She would’ve paid attention to whatever story she was recalling but she was too zoned in to Adora to really care. The girl replaced Scorpia at Perfuma’s side, speaking into her ear so soft Catra couldn’t hear it. Adora stuck her lower lip out in a pout at something Perfuma had said and shot a quick glance over her shoulder to her and Scorpia. Catra’s heart stilled for a moment, the whole fairground seeming to have paused with it, but Adora tore her gaze away just as fast as she had sent it. 

Bow had finally managed to get the group through the crowd and to the entrance of the arena. They flooded in with the sea of spectators, Bow shuffling their tickets around in his hands to figure out their designated seats. 

“ _ Oh, woah.”  _ Catra stopped in the middle of the crowd as she took the sight in. Adora had made it sound as though the arena was going to be some rinky dink little set up. From outside, the big top didn’t look like anything too impressive but the inside revealed a football field sized patch of dirt surrounded by bleachers that nearly touched the top of the tent. At one end of the arena were stalls connected to numbered chutes. In between them was a thin passageway, beyond it Catra could see a huffing calf being prepped for the show. In stalls on either side of it were horses lined up in rows and who Catra assumed to be their riders. 

“Pretty cool, huh?” Scorpia clapped her hands together and beamed down at Catra. Adora and Perfuma had only gotten a few steps ahead of them. They both stopped and turned to them. 

“Yeah, no. It’s more than I was expecting, I guess.” Catra looked to Adora. “You made it seem like this was some shoddy little deal that the townsfolk put together.” 

“Are you at least pleasantly surprised?” Adora gave her a lopsided smile as she tilted her head, her hair falling to the side with it. 

_ Stop being so annoyingly fucking cute.  _ Catra grit her teeth but turned it into a smirk. She crossed her arms and brushed through, in between Adora and Perfuma as she guided the small portion of their friend group to the direction Bow had led the rest. As she walked off she waved a hand in the air over her shoulder. “Meh.” 

Catra could hear Adora’s scoff and practically feel her eyes rolling as she located Bow and the rest of their friends amongst the crowd. Like the most professional crossing guard, Bow was filing them into the bleacher, his eyes going wide when he finally realized the absent members of the group. For a moment, he looked around in panic until he caught sight of Catra leading the rest of them over and let out a breath of relief. 

“What am I supposed to be expecting?” Catra leaned over and spoke into Adora’s ear as she settled into the bench. 

“Oh, so now you want to pretend to be into it?” Adora grinned and raised an eyebrow at her. After a moment, she dropped the face, breathing out a chuckle as she shouldered Catra. “Steer wrestling is pretty straight forward, I’m sure even you city folk can keep up with it.” 

“D—“ Catra squinted at the blonde, her face twisting as she tried to process what she said. “Did you just call me— a city folk?”

“Not funny?” Adora shrunk into herself and gave a nervous laugh. 

Catra thought on it for a moment. “Kind of funny. Mainly dorky. Now tell me about this steer wrestling.” 

“The guys that’ll be in those pens over there,” She pointed to the men and women in lines getting their horses ready. “Are the cowboys. The one coming out on the left side is meant to keep the steer running straight when it’s released, he’s called the hazer. The steer’s connected to a line that’ll snap and signal the bulldogger - the other guy - to go after it. Then he’s supposed to jump off his horse and wrestle the fella to the ground.” 

“And that’s it?” It sounded easy enough to Catra but she was certain there had to be something else to it. 

“Yeah.” Adora shrugged her shoulders and looked over the crowd. There were easily a few hundred people already squished into the big top with more flowing in. “It’s kind of the most exciting timed event in my opinion. My bet is, most of these people are probably here for the roughstock events. Those ones are always last.” 

“And that’s when I’ll have my time to shine.” Sea Hawk, who had been sitting at the end of the aisle, clenched one fist to his chest as he stretched his other arm out towards Catra and Adora. Perfuma and Mermista leaned back out of his way, exchanging glances to each other. Sea Hawk retracted across them after a beat and feigned wiping a tear from his eye. “‘Tis a dream come true.” 

Mermista rolled her eyes. “He’s been wanting to do this forever but they don’t let minors compete here.” 

“You’d think with this glorious mustache they wouldn’t believe I was a mere child, but all that blasted paperwork foiled me every time.” 

“Oh, darn. It’s almost like they have you fill it out for a reason.” Catra rolled her eyes. 

“Catra, be nice, he’s just exci—“ Glimmer was cut off by some screeching overhead. 

“ _ ALRIGHT LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, LET’S OPEN THE GATES!”  _ Catra jumped at the announcer’s voice over the loudspeakers, bracing herself into Adora’s side. The blonde tensed for a moment but chuckled and put an arm around her for protection, not aware of the fluttering it sent through Catra. “ _ INTRODUCING THIS YEAR’S STEER WRESTLING COMPETITORS…”  _

The horses that had been lined up on either side of the steer’s pathway broke through their gates, their riders guiding them around the arena in some obviously choreographed curtain call as the announcer called each of their names. At their own individual sound off, each rider would race their steed around the arena and disappear back into the stalls until the last one galloped away. The announcer called the first competitor to the gate, a younger looking blonde woman with her hair pulled back in braided pigtails. The crowd roared around them. Next to Catra, Adora had her hands balled into fists, excitedly bouncing up and down on her knees as she watched the rider mount her horse. 

“ _ 3… 2… 1!”  _ The crowd counted down with the announcer, Catra’s friends jostling each other in anticipation as they tried to shout their countdown over the hundreds of other people surrounding them. 

The narrow chute containing the steer broke open. Just as Adora had explained, the animal ran for twenty-something feet until the barrier containing the competitor broke. Everything happened in such quick succession, Catra wasn’t sure how this had been an event people legitimately got excited over. As soon as the barrier broke, the woman’s horse raced out of its enclosure, catching up to the steer with ease. Once she was shoulder to shoulder with the animal, she jumped off her steed and tackled the steer directly to the ground. The moment the steer came down on its side it was considered a win, the arena exploding into an uproar, popcorn flying from somewhere above Catra’s head. Everything had happened in less than five seconds but it was a thrilling enough five seconds to Adora that she shot out of her seat, cheering and waving her arms in the air. Catra hadn’t noticed that her other friends had also been in the air, sending their own congratulations down to the cowgirl in a frenzy. Without looking, Adora shot a hand down and grabbed Catra’s shoulder, shaking her back and forth until the competitor made her way off the field and the crowd settled back down into their seats. 

“ _ 3.44 SECONDS! THAT’LL BE A HARD ONE TO BEAT FELLAS!”  _ There was another short burst of cheers over the crowd as the announcer called out the next competitor. 

“I know this part isn’t as exciting to a first timer.” Adora leaned over and spoke into Catra’s ear, sending a small chill down her back as the other girl’s breath tickled her neck. In the time it took her to say that, the cowboy was already out of his gate and off his horse’s back, wrestling the steer down but proving to have a much harder time than the first competitor. Adora looked over just as he took the calf to the ground, a buzzer sounding to signify the win. She didn’t jump up with the rest of the crowd this time, instead turning to Catra with a shy smile as she shrunk into herself. “Are you having fun, though?”

With a crowd around them, Catra wasn’t sure how she was supposed to act with Adora. She wasn’t sure why it was any different than how she interacted with Scorpia to her right but with the way the girl’s crystal blue eyes dove into her own as she awaited her answer felt wrong. Like an exchange that was never meant to happen in view of the entire town. As though if she looked on any longer she would be punished for it, a harsher and harsher punishment for each second she was lost in Adora’s eyes. But none of that could stop her or the small smile curling on her lips. 

“Catra?”

_ Except for that.  _

“Oh—“ She jolted out of her trance, Adora’s question nearly forgotten, another competitor already done with their run. Catra scanned the arena before meeting Adora’s gaze again. “I guess it is fun watching these people act like idiots.”

Adora chuckled and opened her mouth to say something but Bow and Glimmer, on the other side of Scorpia, launched out of their seats. 

“BOO!” The two shouted in unison, cupping their hands around their mouths. Catra and Adora looked to the field to see what caused the upset amongst the spectators. The steer and the hazer were a long ways away from where the bulldogger lay on the ground in the middle of the field. The man rolled in the dirt, gripping his side as he tried to steady himself to his feet. 

“ _ LOOKS LIKE WE HAVE THE FIRST NO TIME OF THE DAY, LADIES AND GENTS!” _

“BOO!” Adora joined the group in their shouting as the cowboy walked off the field in shame. 

_ Fuck _ . Catra’s heart raced in her chest as she watched Adora toss her fist out to the competitor in anger. Her other arm was bent at the elbow, fist clenched close to her side and her muscles rippling through her arm each time she tightened her grip.  _ Fuuuck.  _

——

“You were right. Those timed ones were lame. What even was the point of that clover loopy running thing?” Catra circled her finger in the air as she tried to recall the name of the event. The line of the concessions stand inched forward. When they came to a halt again, Adora kicked around a lump of dirt at her feet, smiling down at it as it broke into crumbling pieces. 

“You mean barrel racing?” Adora lifted her head and quirked an eyebrow. 

“Yes, that is the one I mean.” Catra rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. “It was silly, I could’ve done that.”

“I bet you couldn’t have.” Adora matched Catra’s stance, not realizing the line moving forward until someone behind them cleared their throat. 

“I bet I could have.”

“Catra.” The blonde set her with a firm glance. The sudden seriousness intrigued Catra, her head tilting to the side as she listened. “To quote, well,  _ you —  _ you don’t even have a license, how do you think you’re going to steer a horse? The people who do that train with their horses for years, you’d bust your ass around the first barrel.” 

“Not cute.” Catra scowled at the blonde as she laughed. She held her arms tighter, her shoulders hunching up to her ears. They reached the front of the line and Adora leaned over the counter to give their order. Seconds later, she was handed a large tub of popcorn and two drinks, one of which she handed to Catra and they took off, pushing through the crowds to make it back to the tent. 

“Isn’t it lovely seeing you girls here.” Catra and Adora both froze. Set up in a booth to their right was Miss Weaver, surrounded by cartons of eggs as she handed one off to her last customer. “Having fun?”

They both stood for a moment and stared at the woman as she sent them a snarled grin. She leaned forward on the table and crossed her arms, resting her head on the heel of one hand. The crowd thickened around them, allowing Adora to break the eye contact Miss Weaver had been holding onto and nudge Catra towards the entrance of the big top. The other girl maintained her gaze for a moment before falling to her whim and moving along with the crowd. 

“That was… weird?” Catra sent a side glance to Adora but she had been staring straight ahead, dead through the crowd, her focus on the open flaps of the tent. She looked over her shoulder to see that Miss Weaver was no longer visible through the sea of bodies and glanced back to Adora. “Hey, you okay?”

“Huh?” The blonde faltered for a moment before fixing her attention on Catra. “Oh, yeah, fine. Um— weird, yeah. Weaver doesn’t do the whole threatening thing in public. She prefers to just make you really uncomfortable. Remember the first time we met at the diner?” 

Catra thought back to that day, to Miss Weaver’s abnormal behavior and the way she exploded into a rage the moment they were in the privacy of her car. She pursed her lips and gave a short nod. “Makes sense.” 

The announcer's voice boomed through the air, calling out the end of intermission and signaling the spectators to return to their seats for the roughstock events. They made their way back to their friends before the crowd around them had the chance to grow even denser as the announcer introduced the upcoming competitors. 

The air in the stadium around them was alive, buzzing with excitement as people threw their cheers down to men and women in the center of the arena. The vibe had been much different in the first half of the events. Where people were excited before, the crowd - Adora and her friends included - was now nearly ravenous as the line of competitors made their way off the field and out of sight. Adora fell back into the seat next to Catra and threw her arm around her. In her excitement she almost spilled her drink in the girl’s lap but quickly collected herself. 

“This is bareback riding. They have eight seconds to stay on the horse’s back and keep their spurs on their shoulders as best they can. The judges judge the cowboys’ composure and the ferocity of the horse.”

“This is where it starts getting interesting.” Glimmer leaned across Scorpia and gripped Catra’s knee, giving it an enthusiastic shake. 

“Oh, look!” Scorpia clapped her hands together and pointed down to the center of the stadium. 

The first rider was already out of the gate, her horse jumping straight up and down, kicking in the air before it turned to jumping in a tight circle. With one lethal kick, the girl's legs that had once been wrapped around the horse's shoulders were now parallel with its neck as it continued to rage. The buzzer signaling the end of her time went off before she was able to get her footing again. Soon there were other people on the field to tame the bucking horse and assist the girl off its back. Some man helped her out of the arena as the announcer called her score overhead. The last thing Catra could see before she disappeared down a chute was the girl shaking her head back and forth in disappointment. 

“Poor soul, never stood a chance against that wild bronco.” Sea Hawk’s sentiment attracted his friends’ attention, all turning their heads to look down the aisle at him. 

“Don’t you ‘poor soul’ anyone, that’s about to be you.” Mermista chuckled and shouldered him. 

“Sea Hawk’ll be fine! He’s been training hard for this.” Bow stuck both thumbs in the air as he beamed down at his friend. Catra and Adora exchanged a glance and, in unison, took a sip from their drinks. 

“Ahah! Training! In—“ Sea Hawk gave a nervous laugh. “Indeed, I have been training plenty.” 

“ _ No.”  _ Perfuma held her hands up to cover the shock on her face. “Sea Hawk, have you not been practicing?” 

“Of course I have.” He responded with a huff and firm nod as he crossed his arms. “I’ve been riding twenty bulls a day since I signed up.”

“Uh huh.” Mermista narrowed her eyes at him to which he shrank into himself. “And where did they keep the bulls at your university, Sea Hawk?”

“Well in the pens, of course.” 

“ _ AND THAT ONE WILL BE A DISQUALIFICATION FOLKS!”  _

They all turned their heads to the rider who was flailing around on the ground as two others appeared out of thin air to distract the horse that was still rampaging dangerously close to him. Catra flinched with each stomp of the bronco’s hooves as the wrestlers were trying to grab a hold of it and get it away from the cowboy. She felt a hand grip her knee, jolting her again. Next to her, Adora leaned into the action on the field, clenching one hand into a fist on her bopping leg as the other dug into Catra’s knee. Catra could see the muscles twinging in her jaw as her teeth gritted against each other. Suddenly, she let out a sigh of relief. Catra had missed the rescue on the field but Adora’s now calm composure was enough to relax her own anxieties. 

“That was—“ Adora turned, her eyes going wide when they met Catra’s, her excited grin softening. “—wild.”

Her hand swiftly retracted from Catra’s leg, clasping her other as she dug them between her knees to be hidden away. The moment it left, Catra wanted to chase after the contact but steeled herself, folding her hands into her own knees and turning her attention to the next cowboy coming onto the field. 

——

“Why did we have to sit through a whole other introduction if this was basically the same as the last event?”

“Saddleback is totally different.” Scorpia scoffed and waved a hand in the air. 

“It’s more about being in harmony with your steed.” Perfuma closed her eyes and hummed, smiling at her statement. Her eyes popped right back open when the loudspeakers fizzled to life, her hands clenching the air in front of her chest. 

“ _ LADIES AND GENTLEMAN— IT IS TIME FOR THE MOST DANGEROUS EIGHT SECONDS IN SPORTING! INTRODUCING YOUR BULL RIDERS—“ _

“There he is!” At the end of the bench, Mermista bolted out of her seat with more enthusiasm than Catra had ever seen from her. She balled one hand into a fist at her side while the other cupped her mouth. “Go get that bull, babe!”

The rest of the crowd was in the air with her, sending out the most energy they had all evening. Catra had refused to join the hollering crowd throughout the events but this time Adora reached down, grabbing her hand and pulling it - and the rest of Catra - up into the air with her. She threw an arm around her shoulders and pulled her in as she shouted down to Sea Hawk. Catra let the girl shake her back and forth, not wanting to tear her gaze away or ruin the pure glee on her face as she cheered for her friend on the field. Down below, Sea Hawk was lapping up the excitement from the crowd, waving his hands in the air as he seemed to try and make eye contact with each individual spectator. Catra was certain he would pass out from all the attention. As the competitors took off of the field, the audience settled back into their seats. 

“Look.” Adora tapped Catra’s arm and pointed over to where a bull was being led into a confined pen, the first cowgirl getting ready in the stall next to it. She slipped into a heavily padded vest and, once given a signal from a man outside the stall, climbed up the fence. She stood there for a moment and looked up at the speakers overhead, awaiting her cue to mount the bull. At the sound of a loud buzzer, she took the last step over the barrier and dropped onto the bull. The gate unlatched immediately, sending the bull bucking sideways out of the gate. In the blink of an eye, the girl was thrown into the air, coming crashing down on the bulls rear end and toppling over its backside, receiving a swift kick to the ribs. Two men ran out from the edges of the arena to distract the bull away from the girl as she got to her feet. 

_ “LAUNCHED, BOPPED, AND KICKED— THAT’S GONNA LEAVE A MARK LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!” _

Popcorn was thrown down at the arena, Perfuma grabbing from the tub they had retrieved and throwing her own handful down with a boo. As the next cowboy started his run, Catra still sat in shock at the first one. Her hand was frozen in midair, still holding her drink halfway to her lips as she stared, wide eyed, at the spot in the arena the girl had nearly gotten trampled in. While her mind still wrapped itself around the visual, the crowd escalated into an uproar as the announcer praised the latest rider for finishing his time. The next guy didn’t have as much luck, falling under the bull and seeming to suffer a severe stomping within a second of being released from the gate. 

“This…” Catra held a hand up and wagged a finger down at the arena. “This is horrifying.” 

“At least no one’s died.” Scorpia stated matter of factly. “A few years ago—“

She piped down at a stern glare from Adora, pretending to choke on her saliva and not able to recall the memory. Even though it was silenced, Catra got the idea. Her jaw clenched as she watched the next competitor getting ready, a gaudy cowboy hat blocking her view of the rider’s face. 

“Seriously?”

“Is that—“

“Oh god.”

“He’s not gonna wear a helmet?” 

The buzzer signaled Sea Hawk to drop down onto the bull. Each of the friends grabbed each other, watching on in fear and excitement as the gate broke open, Sea Hawk’s hat flying off his head the moment the bull dove out of the pen. It darted a few yards out, the bull wrestlers following close behind as it made a sharp turn, kicking up dirt while Sea Hawk slid to the side of it’s back. A wild grin was plastered across his face as one hand flopped in the air while the bull tossed him around. It stopped in its tracks for a moment and bucked, sending him flying into the air and crashing back down. Catra’s nails dug into Adora’s leg with one hand while she gripped Scorpia’s arm with the other, her teeth gnarling against each other as her eyes were glued to the spectacle. The bull was in the middle of spinning in tight circles and bucking rapidly when the buzzer sounded. It took a moment for Catra to realize what happened but the crowd erupting into applause clued her in. The wrestlers ran out to settle the bull, Sea Hawk finding his opportunity to jump off and run into the field, throwing his hands in the air and running around the arena in victory. 

“He did it! He did it!” Mermista was holding onto Perfuma by her shoulders, thrusting her side to side as she jumped up and down in her spot. 

Catra couldn’t help but share in the elation. She threw an arm around Adora’s waist and pumped her free hand in the air, cheering alongside her friends and hopping with enthusiasm. Mermista darted out of the bleachers and shouted something over her shoulder. The rest of the group rushed to follow her, running down the bleachers and out of the tent as the next rider got ready. Mermista led them around the tent to where sweaty men and women gathered in circles as they chatted. Sea Hawk was easy to spot amongst them, talking excitedly to a group who didn’t seem as interested in what he was saying as he had. His face brightened even further when his gaze fell on his friends. Without a farewell, he broke away from the group and ran to them, catching Mermista in an embrace and spinning her around.

“Did you all see that? Wasn’t I amazing?” Sea Hawk threw his arms out in front of himself. 

“You  _ were _ amazing.” Bow pushed through the group and threw his arms around Sea Hawk’s neck, shifting into a side hug after giving him a tight squeeze. 

“I don’t think any of us thought you were going to pull that off.” Glimmer chuckled at her own joke. Only Catra joined her. 

“After that first girl got knocked off so easy, I was expecting you to go down even faster.” Catra clutched her side and fell into Glimmer as they keeled over in a fit of laughter. 

“Nonsense.” Sea Hawk batted a hand in the air, silencing them. “I told you I’ve been riding forty bulls a day to get ready for this.”

“I thought you said twenty.” Perfuma prodded her chin as she thought back. 

“Well it was  _ fifty—“ _

The group began to speak over each other, each of them disputing the random numbers Sea Hawk was throwing out. The speakers outside of the tent crackled as the announcer interrupted them, calling all competitors back to the arena to announce the winners. 

——

“Second place? Second place! How did I deserve second place? Did you see my ride? It was impeccable. I mean, I couldn’t see it, but it  _ felt  _ amazing.” Sea Hawk sank as he picked at his cotton candy. 

“You’re number one in our hearts, buddy.” A strong arm fell around his shoulders as Scorpia smiled down at him. 

They walked around the fairgrounds, peering into the booths that hadn’t been packed up yet. Catra and Adora stayed to the back of the group, walking shoulder to shoulder and whispering to each other as the rest of their friends doted on Sea Hawk. 

“—and then when that girl got kicked, I thought for sure she wasn’t going to get up.” Catra looked down at her fists clenched in front of her. She bore her teeth in a grin. 

“See, I knew you would like it.” Adora bumped her, sending her stepping over to the side before regaining her balance and returning the assault. 

“I didn’t say I liked it…” Catra trailed off, raising an eyebrow at Adora. “But it was kind of like watching a horror movie in real time, so that part was cool.” 

“Hey, lovebirds.” The group had stopped and turned their attention back to them. Catra’s face grew hot as she met Glimmer’s smirk. “Bill’s party isn’t for another few hours. Shall we pregame?” 

Perfuma held up the handbag she had been carrying around, smiling with closed eyes as she poked at it wordlessly. 

“Smoking with you?” Catra turned to Adora and smirked at her, to which she responded with a scoff and offended expression. “Yeah, that oughta be interesting.”


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Check end notes for CWs

Adora wondered if Catra could feel it too. If she could feel how her entire world has shifted. Did she know how hard it was to even formulate a proper sentence around her now? It was like— no, it  _ was  _ overnight that Adora’s entire world came crumbling down and suddenly all there was was Catra and all that  _ mattered  _ was Catra. And there she was, sitting across from her in the rotation, looking so beautiful as she laughed along, her head lolling to the side as Sea Hawk rehashed the events of the rodeo as if they hadn’t all just sat through it. Maybe she was just high, but Adora could sit through Sea Hawk’s exaggerated retellings of his run over and over again if it meant she could keep watching Catra smile like that. 

Catra let out another melodic chuckle and Adora’s heart fluttered. Her whole body vibrated with the breathy laughter as she leaned back on her hands, the simple crop top Adora had loaned her riding up her stomach. Blue and golden eyes landed on her own for a moment, sending a burst of heat across Adora’s face and spreading to her chest. She couldn’t stop her lips from giving way to a goofy grin. She hoped no one else but Catra had caught sight of her slip but she couldn’t tear her gaze away. The blunt made its way to the girl. She blinked at Adora, accepting the item and giving Perfuma a curt nod without entirely breaking her eye contact with the blonde. 

Adora was sure that by this point Glimmer was boring holes into the side of her skull and silently judging her but it didn’t stop her from watching Catra pull the doctored cigar to her lips and take a long drag. She let it hang there for a moment as she lazily puffed away. 

_ They look so soft, I wonder what they smell like…  _ She shook herself, furrowing her brow and focusing on a patch of packed sand in the center of their circle.  _ What do they smell like? No one wonders what their friend’s lips smell like, Adora. That’s weird.  _

_ “ _ —-and Adora, you should sign up with me next year.” Sea Hawk leaned across the circle and grabbed Adora’s feet, shaking her from her thoughts with a jolt. “And you can even raise little Wellington to be one of the bulls for the competition!” 

“Uh, he’s not exactly the right kind of cow for that, Sea Ha—“

“Not with that attitude he won’t be.” Sea Hawk cut Adora off, throwing his hands in the air and sitting straight up in a bolt. 

“I would  _ love  _ to see Adora get thrown off of Wellington.” Catra stuck her leg out and kicked Adora’s foot with a playful smirk dancing on her lips. 

Adora wanted to think of a retort. She had one at the edge of her teeth, ready to go, but it died out before it got the chance to leave her lips, fizzling away as Catra watched her with a gleam in her eyes. The group noticed her falter and waited a beat before breaking out into giggles, sending their own quips to Adora as her face grew red. After letting it go on for a moment, she scoffed and rolled her eyes at them but it didn’t make them let up. Catra looked to her with a smug grin and winked, sending a flurry through Adora but she didn’t let it show, only scoffed harder at her. 

Choking, Mermista handed the blunt to Adora. She took it as a chance to break her eye contact with Catra and hide the smile pulling at the corners of her lips. Letting her head fall back after plucking the blunt between her lips, she watched a group of birds fly through the dimming evening sky overhead. She sat, content, and let out a low hum the filled her whole body. 

——

The driveway was already overflowing with cars spilling out into the street and even a few on the lawn in front of Bill’s house. It had been a while since Adora had gone to a party and even longer since she had attended one of Bill’s infamous parties. The turnout surprised her. She looked to Catra to see if she had also been in shock at the amount of people crowding the lawn as music blasted overhead but she seemed disinterested at the whole thing as she stood with her arms crossed, looking over the heads of the crowd. 

With Sea Hawk leading the group, they made their way through to the front door. He threw it open and stood in the doorway for a moment as he scanned the crowd, his face lighting up as his eyes landed on a tall, dark haired man talking with a group of girls who seemed to be fawning over him.

“Bill!” Sea Hawk shouted over the music, garnering the small group’s attention. Mermista groaned and followed after him, the rest of the group breaking off into pairs and leaving Catra and Adora standing alone in the foyer staring at the sea of bodies surging in the living room to the beat of the music. 

“I spy a table full of liquor.” Catra leaned over and bumped her shoulder into Adora’s, pointing through the crowd and over to a cheap foldout table with various glass bottles and two liters of soda spread out next to stacks of plastic cups. Adora shuttered in repulsion at the sight of the liquor but eased up when her gaze fell on the cooler of beers next to the table. Catra took her by her hand and led her through the crowd, towards the table where she inspected the different bottles before pulling one out. Adora peered at the bottle she had selected and winced as she watched Catra pour a decent amount of the tequila into a solo cup. 

“1800? Really?” Adora laughed, more to herself, as she turned over the beers in the cooler and explored her own options. Her hand finally found the familiar blue and silver label and pulled the bottle from the ice. 

“Pabst? Really?” She smiled and Adora wasn’t sure her heart could handle seeing that shining smirk so many times in such a short amount of time. 

Her hands twisted around the bottle as she picked at the label and nervously chuckled at Catra’s disgust. Clearing her throat, Adora took a bottle opener that was tied to the table and cracked open her beer. She dropped her head for a moment before reaching a foot across the few inches that bridged them and gently tapping the other girl’s shin. 

“Follow me?” Adora motioned to a sliding glass door nearby. She spun on her feet and took off in the direction, throwing a quick glance over her shoulder to make sure Catra wasn’t getting separated by the crowd. 

“You know, if I didn’t know any better I’d think you really don’t wanna be here right now.” Catra quipped as she settled into a lawn chair. 

The balcony out the back door was just a paved slab with a few seats in a circle. Out in the corner of the backyard was a fire pit that had garnered a small crowd as flames danced in the center of it. Adora watched them as they chatted amongst each other, laughing and sharing smokes as they waved half empty bottles around. She recognized most of them but not some of the younger looking few. Truth be told, she was thankful that the backyard was much less packed than the rest of the house was. 

“What makes you say that?” Adora only partially turned her attention to the other girl. She heard her shift in her seat and when she fully looked to her side, Catra was leaned out of her chair and across the gap between the two of them, squinting at her with her lips pursed. Unfazed, Adora took a long drink from her beer and set it down on the table Catra had placed her own drink on. 

“You hate all these people too, huh?” With a sigh, Catra fell back into her seat. After a moment’s thought, she gripped onto the armrests and scooted the chair as close to Adora as the table between them would allow. “You wanna tell me about it?” 

“Uh…” Her eyes scanned the few people outside. At some point Bill and Sea Hawk had slipped out, their argument ensuing on the other side of the yard near the fire pit. Sea Hawk looked like he was pleading with Bill as the other man had his arms crossed and shook his head solemnly. She turned back to Catra who still stared her down with a raised eyebrow. “I guess I’ve just fallen out of the party scene. I mean in a town this small, if you’ve been to one party you’ve been to them all, right?”

Catra seemed shocked at this but shrugged her shoulders anyway. Her blue and golden eyes flickered across the yard as she sipped her drink. A crash from inside caused them both to jump. In unison, they turned around to see in through the glass door before exchanging worried glances. Adora moved to stand but Bill was already rushing past them, flinging the door open and stomping into the house, slamming it shut behind him. The way the glass rattled in the pane made Adora think it would shatter but the wobbling settled down. She could see her reflection as she tried to look through the door, as well as Catra’s next to her as she easily downed the rest of her drink. 

“I’ll go see what that’s about, I guess.” Catra squinted one eye shut and peered into her empty cup with the other. With one finger, she tapped on Adora’s bottle as she gripped onto its neck with white knuckles. “You need another?” 

Adora hadn’t realized she only had a few sips of her drink remaining. Wordlessly and not entirely ripping her attention away from trying to see through the glass, she nodded at Catra. Adora didn’t process her standing up and disappearing into the house as her mind began to haze over, old memories infiltrating her head as she tried to make out the commotion inside. 

——

_ Adora was sat on the couch, her legs draped over Huntara’s lap as a strong hand ran up and down her thigh, her other arm resting across her shoulders. She didn’t recognize a single face there. She certainly didn’t recognize the petite brunette that had just gently trailed her fingertips across her girlfriend’s shoulders as she walked behind the couch. Huntara had yet to make an effort to introduce her to many people, a fact Adora tried to ignore, even though this was far from the first party at the college she had attended with her. Adora brushed the thought away and put her smile back on when Huntara fixed her with a sultry look. With a firm hand placed high on her thigh, a thumb brushing against the fringe of Adora’s shorts, Huntara gave her a gentle squeeze. Her heart flutter and Adora could feel her smile soften into something more genuine as Huntara’s warm eyes gazed into her own.  _

_ Her girlfriend released her grip on her thigh and gave it a pat, nudging Adora’s legs off of her own. “I’ll be right back. Need a refresher.” She shook her cup and Adora could hear the liquid slosh around inside but let it go, nodding at Huntara as she walked away without another word. When she walked past the table full of liquor, placing her cup down on the corner before disappearing down a hallway, Adora thought nothing of it. She just assumed the bathroom may have been down that way. _

_ Adora felt like a sore thumb sitting in the middle of the room by herself, not knowing anyone, a drunk couple making out on the other side of the couch. She eyed them for a moment, filled with envy. With a resigned huff, she glared down into her nearly empty drink, brows furrowed as her face twisted in jealousy that she didn’t know had been brewing.  _

_ “Can I get you another one?” A soft voice pulled her attention from the depleted liquid. A short, blonde girl smiled down at her, holding a hand out for Adora’s cup. She lifted it up and the girl took it from her, bringing it to her face to take a sniff. Her nose wrinkled. “ _ Eck -  _ so you’re a tequila girl, then? Be right back with one tequila for the lady.” _

_ The girl winked at her before taking off. Adora, knowing the dangers of trusting someone else with your drink, watched carefully as the blonde took her cup over to the table and carefully selected a bottle. She poured far more than Adora would have into the cup before returning the bottle to its home and retreating back to the couch with a freshly filled cup in hand.  _

_ “Here, you’ll probably need all that.” She spoke in an uneasy tone as she settled into the couch next to Adora. She set her own drink between her knees and ran her hands through her massive curls, pulling them back into a ponytail. When she finished, she flicked open the tab of her drink and took a long swig from it. “You’re Huntara’s girlfriend right? I’m Starla.”  _

_ “Adora.” She took the hand the girl had extended to her and gave it the best short, firm shake she could in her drunken haze. “You friends with Huntara?”  _

_ “Hah - not exactly.” Starla gripped her can. The sides gave way to her force and crinkled in, letting a little bit of the liquid splash out.  _

_ Adora began to grow uncomfortable. She shot a glance over the girl’s shoulder in the direction Huntara had disappeared into, expecting her to come around the corner any second. Shifting in her seat, she leveled the girl with a nervous glance.  _ Did she say she  _ wasn’t _ friends with Huntara?  _ Adora steeled herself. She took a sip, keeping her eyes on Starla over the brim of her cup. After a long time of sitting in an unsteady silence, the girl cleared her throat and drummed her fingers along the side of her can.  _

_ “Listen, there’s actually something me and a few other girls have been wanting to reach out to you about.“ Adora gave a hesitant nod, silently urging her to continue. Her heart began to race while the girl seemed to be trying to formulate the right words in her head. “It’s not really easy to say, you seem like such a nice girl and all but—“ _

_ “What the hell d’you think you’re doing cozying up next to my girl?” Huntara appeared behind them, clapping strong hands down on the backrest of the couch. Starla cleared her throat again and sent Adora an apologetic glance.  _

_ “Oh - nothing. I guess we’ll catch up another time then.” Starla gave Huntara a curt nod before standing, smoothing out the wrinkles of her outfit, and taking off into the crowd. She gave Adora a small wave as she left.  _

_ “Like hell you will.” Huntara called after her with a snarl. She crossed in front of the couch and fell into her seat, throwing an arm around Adora and pulling her tight into her side, glaring at Starla as she disappeared into the sea of bodies. She cracked open a fresh beer. Adora sent a glance to the liquor table and saw the cup that she left was still sitting on the corner. A gruff voice stole her attention before she could think on it further. “What was she saying to you?” _

_ Her lips were unmistakably swollen, Adora couldn’t deny that. A small mark was purpling just over the collar of her shirt. Adora grit her teeth but shoved the intrusive conclusions she was beginning to draw away, pushing them deep into the back of her head. She gave Huntara a tight smile before downing the rest of her drink. If she was a little more sober there would’ve been no way she could’ve taken that much liquor in one go but her senses were beginning to leave her. She shifted so she was sitting in her original position with her legs across Huntara but she didn’t look as into it as she was earlier, her girlfriend’s mind seeming to be somewhere else.  _

_ “ _ What _ did she say to you?” Huntara repeated, angrier this time, and pointed out into the crowd where Starla was no longer visible.  _

_ “Oh.” Adora’s mind went blank. Her last gulps of tequila seemed to put her over the edge hard and fast. She chuckled and shook her head, her words slurring together as she spoke and her head lolling back. “I dunno. Somethin’ ‘bout you. Prob _ -hic- _ probably just how hot you are.”  _

_ Adora lazily reached a hand up to caress Huntara’s cheek, letting a few of her fingertips drag down her jawline before trailing down her neck. She lingered over the small purple mark for a moment. In a motion so quick Adora’s foggy senses couldn’t capture it, Huntara darted a hand out to grab her own, crushing her fingers together in a vice grip and pulling them away from the spot. Adora wanted to protest and make some sort of sound that indicated she was in pain but it was drowned out by a hiccup. She twisted her hand out of Huntara’s grip and held it close to her chest, drawing her knees up as far as she could before her feet got caught on Huntara’s leg.  _

_ The girl let out a harsh scoff and rolled her eyes. “Come on, it’s time to get you back to my dorm.” She pushed Adora’s legs off her lap and took another long sip from her beer.  _

_ Huntara stood with a groan and, without looking back to Adora, began to head for the exit, her drink swinging back and forth in her hand at her side.  _

_ Adora struggled to catch up but managed to break through the crowd and make it out to the front lawn of the frat house. Huntara was already past the mailbox, not seeming to notice that she had lost Adora so far back. When she was able to catch up, she playfully threw her arms around her neck in an attempt to break the tension and placed a wet kiss under her ear. Huntara brushed her away with a grumble.  _

_ “Why are you  _ -hic- _ being such a grump.” Adora pouted and crossed her arms. In the blink of an eye, the air around them grew even thicker with the tension Adora was trying to soothe.  _

_ Glass shattered. Huntara’s shoulders hiked up. Adora froze. Her blood turned to ice and suddenly she felt very sober as Huntara turned on her feet. For a moment, the crowd on the front lawn turned their attention to them but promptly returned to their conversations when Huntara shot them all a glare.  _

_ Adora looked down at the amber liquid trickling down the sidewalk, pooling around her feet. She stared at it, and the broken glass, in confusion. When she looked back up, the rage seeping from Huntara’s eyes was enough to tell her she should’ve just kept her mouth shut and walked back to the dorms with her in silence.  _

_ Taking a tentative step forward, she rested a hand on her chest just under the collar of Huntara’s shirt. A thin layer of sweat was making the girl’s top cling to her skin. Adora gently drummed her fingers on the spot and took another slow step forward, pressing her body into Huntara and lacing her arms up around her neck as she let her head rest on her chest, her eyes lulling shut as she let out a hum.  _

_ “I’m  _ -hic- _ sorry.” Huntara felt stiff in her arms. The only sign of life came from a single warm hand silently placing itself on Adora’s hip. The blonde took that as permission to nuzzle herself deeper into her girlfriend. She took in a deep breath, an unfamiliar scent lingering on Huntara. Flowers? New soap? Perfume? Adora ignored it and tightened her grip around her, running a trail of lazy kisses down her neck before mumbling into her skin. “Hmm, take me to bed?”  _

_ —— _

“I guess some asshole got everybody really into the electric slide and—  _ Adora _ ? Are you okay?”

“Huh?” She was shaken out of the memory by a disembodied hand draped over her shoulder, a Pabst hanging lazily by the fingertips and resting against her chest. She took the drink. As soon as it was released from her grip, Catra’s hand slid up and gave Adora’s shoulder a comforting grip before she reclaimed her seat. 

“Are you good?” Concern flooded Catra’s face. Flashing a weak smile, Adora forced out a laugh and nodded over to Sea Hawk, who was sitting just outside of the circle gathered around the fire pit, Mermista sitting on the ground next to him, seeming to be comforting him. 

“You know what’s going on over there?” Adora nodded over to them, eager to change the subject. Without waiting for an answer, she stood and crossed the yard to her friends, Catra let out a short chuckle behind her and followed. 

“Bill wasn’t as impressed with his run on the bull.” Mermista said with a sigh when she noticed the two approach. She was rubbing soft circles into Sea Hawk’s back with one hand while propping her head up on her other. Sea Hawk released a harsh sob and lifted his head, a line of snot dribbling from his nostril. 

“He just must not have been there to see how cool I was.” He let his head fall back down and continued with his sniffling. 

“Second place is cool enough, Sea Hawk.” Adora gave him a warm smile and joined Mermista in patting his back. “Bill is just a jerk.” 

“It isn’t fair. My coolest friend doesn’t even think I’m cool. What do I even have anymore?” 

Adora rolled her eyes, knowing full well Sea Hawk was just going on for the theatrics at this point. Catra crouched down beside her and bumped her shoulder, giving a light chuckle that only Adora could hear. The grass audibly shifted behind them under the weight of footsteps. 

“I’m hurt - I thought I was your coolest friend, Sea Hawk.” They all looked up at Bow, who had an arm around Glimmer's shoulders and his free hand held to his chest in pretend shock. The two sat down in the grass behind them, causing them all to shift - minus Sea Hawk - so they could face each other. 

“Um… where did Perfuma and Scorpia go?” Glimmer questioned, scanning the people gathered around the fire pit to see if they had ended up there. “They were just with us, like, five minutes ago. Have you seen them?” 

The group exchanged glances and shrugged their shoulders. 

“Maybe they finally got a room.” Catra laughed at her own joke but her friends only raised an eyebrow at her, Adora included. Taking a sip of her drink, she returned the glances. “What? I’m not stupid, I have to sit through sculpture with them and their weird touching and flirting. I know what’s up.” 

Glimmer barked out a laugh, her drink sloshing over the brim of her cup and spilling into Bow’s lap. She choked out an apology as she tried to gather herself. “That’s hilarious, Catra. Never thought you would be the one to pick up on romantic tension.”

Adora shot Glimmer a look telling her not to say another word. Catra’s comment was already making her grow self conscious about her own weird touching and flirting and she didn’t need Glimmer dropping hints to make it worse. Her friend seemed to get the message and put her hands up in defeat, changing the topic back to speculating on what their missing friends were doing. 

——

“It’s so - _ hic-  _ late. Miss Weaver is gonna be soooo  _ -hic-  _ mad at you.” Adora chuckled grimly. 

“No, no, no.” Catra let out a belch and blew it away. “She’s gonna be  _ -hic-  _ so mad at  _ you.”  _ Catra leaned across the couch and prodded Adora’s nose. The girl scoffed and swatted her hand away. With a groan, she threw her legs up onto the couch and over Catra’s lap. She kicked them around for a moment until Catra got the message and scooted closer, allowing Adora’s thighs to rest in her lap while her feet hung over her and rested on the couch cushions.

“Why would she be mad at me?” Adora couldn’t control her slur and let her head bob around as she spoke. She let it drift to the side and lay on the backrest, her face inches away from Catra’s own. “She gonna be mad at  _ you. I  _ don’t have to deal with her anymore.” 

Bill shifted in the armchair across the room, drawing Adora’s attention for a moment. He had long since passed out there. Some people took it upon themselves to doodle on his face before leaving the party and others were scattered around the floor and on top of furniture, passed out alongside him. Aside from the handful of other partygoers, Adora’s group was part of the only few left standing. Music still played throughout the house but at a much lower volume than it was when the place was at full volume. 

“You’re lucky.” Catra’s hand coming down to rest gently on Adora’s knee gripped her attention back. Catra hummed and traced small circles over her denim clad resting spot. “Hmm, I’ll be lucky, too, soon.” 

Through her fogged mind, Adora couldn’t make out exactly what Catra meant by that. She lifted her head up and cocked it to the side, staring at Catra inquisitively. 

“What? You - _ hic-  _ expect me to stay seventeen forever?” She leaned away slightly and lazily held two fingers in the air in front of Adora’s face, making her eyes cross. “Two months, Princess.” 

“Two  _ -hic-  _ two months?” She squinted at Catra, still not understanding what she was trying to say. 

Catra let out a breathy chuckle and let her head fall back onto the cushion, turning so she could fix Adora with a gaze. A soft smile played on her lips. She reached a hand out and curled it around Adora’s neck, twisting her fingers into the little hairs that broke free of her ponytail over the course of the night. The spot she fiddled with tingled under her touch, sending a shiver down Adora’s spine. Her mind began to spin, cycling through all the possible intentions behind the gentle contact Catra was giving her. She wanted to lean into it, to take Catra's hand and caress it, pull it away and place a gentle kiss on her palm but she was certain - absolutely positive - that it wasn’t what the other girl wanted from her. As much as she desired it, she stopped herself from thinking of the actions any further and tightened her jaw. 

“Two months for what?”

Regretfully, Catra pulled her hand away from playing in Adora’s hair. She chuckled again and raised an eyebrow at Adora, shaking her head. 

“Two months ‘til I - _ hic-  _ I get released from the hell that is the foster  _ -hic-  _ care system.” 

That effectively sobered Adora right up. Her eyes widened and she looked down at her legs, still laying across Catra’s lap, the other girl’s hand still tracing small, careful circles into her knee. 

“Hey, homos.” Glimmer appeared out of nowhere, giving Adora a shock, and draped herself over the head of the couch, falling between the two girls. She began flapping her hands around, smacking their shoulders. “C-come on now. We - _ hic-  _ figured out driving arrangements. Up up. Let’s go.” 

Adora’s thoughts were still barreling around her head in a windstorm but she allowed Glimmer to push her off the couch and out the front door, careful to step over sleeping bodies, as she chatted with Catra about something or other that she wasn’t catching. Her eyes darted around, falling to Catra more than once in her mild, drunken panic. 

_ Catra leaving? Two months? What?  _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cw: drinking, drugs 
> 
> Also just so y’all know, I hate doing this to Huntara, I hate it with every fiber of my being but also - I love shitstain!Huntara, she kinda hot. Sue me.


End file.
